Keep SXSW weirdImage by Caitlin McGarryAustin is already a weird place, but during South by Southwest, the weirdness grows exponentially. Big brands thirsty for attention and tiny startups looking to pitch the hot new app compete to see who can capture the SXSW audience of techies and creatives. The brand presence was more subdued this year than in the past, but that didn’t make the stunts any less bananas. Here are the 8 that made me stop in my tracks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
WikiLeaks is back at it again, this time with more than 8,700 leaked documents apparently from inside the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence. According to those documents, the CIA had knowledge of zero-day exploits it could use to hack iPhones. But Apple said many of those bugs have already been patched with the latest version of iOS.The WikiLeaks documents didn’t include details of the bugs or whether the CIA has actually used them, so it’s unclear if or how Apple knows the exploits have been patched. But the company released a statement to multiple media outlets following the WikiLeaks dump on Tuesday:
“Apple is deeply committed to safeguarding our customers’ privacy and security. The technology built into today’s iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we’re constantly working to keep it that way. Our products and software are designed to quickly get security updates into the hands of our customers, with nearly 80 percent of users running the latest version of our operating system. While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today were already patched in the latest OS, we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities. We always urge Continue reading
WikiLeaks is back at it again, this time with more than 8,700 leaked documents apparently from inside the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence. According to those documents, the CIA had knowledge of zero-day exploits it could use to hack iPhones. But Apple said many of those bugs have already been patched with the latest version of iOS.The WikiLeaks documents didn’t include details of the bugs or whether the CIA has actually used them, so it’s unclear if or how Apple knows the exploits have been patched. But the company released a statement to multiple media outlets following the WikiLeaks dump on Tuesday:
“Apple is deeply committed to safeguarding our customers’ privacy and security. The technology built into today’s iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we’re constantly working to keep it that way. Our products and software are designed to quickly get security updates into the hands of our customers, with nearly 80 percent of users running the latest version of our operating system. While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today were already patched in the latest OS, we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities. We always urge Continue reading
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced plans to roll back Obama protections for transgender kids in schools. Apple quickly responded with a forceful statement against the move.“Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination,” the company said in a statement it provided to Politico. “We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals. We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
While Apple CEO Tim Cook is looking forward to his company’s next big idea, which sounds like it’s going to be augmented reality-related, he’s also stunned by the tech industry’s inability to stem the tide of fake news.In between tours of schools and meetings with developers in a trip to Britain, Cook spoke excitedly about the potential of AR in Apple devices to The Independent, and was equally impassioned about the scourge of fake news in comments to The Telegraph.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Did Apple purposefully break iOS 6, rendering old iPhones unusable before their time? That’s the question at the heart of a new class-action lawsuit against the Cupertino company, which claims that Apple killed FaceTime in iOS 6 to avoid paying hefty licensing fees.The basis of the lawsuit, first reported by AppleInsider, comes from details that emerged last year in VirnetX’s patent infringement suit against the company. VirnetX licenses patents to technology companies, and one of those patents covers peer-to-peer audio and video transfer; Apple used peer-to-peer transfer to power FaceTime. When VirnetX, which has been described as a “patent troll,” came after Apple, the company switched to another relay method for FaceTime, using the third-party server Akami. That’s where things get tricky. Apple had to pay Akamai for that server usage to the tune of millions and millions of dollars. Faced with VirnetX’s patent infringement court win and mounting Akamai bills, Apple created a new peer-to-peer protocol for FaceTime in iOS 7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
After sending an email to employees expressing Apple’s opposition to the Trump administration’s new immigration restrictions, Apple CEO Tim Cook is now making a forceful stand.“More than any country in the world, this country is strong because of our immigrant background and our capacity and ability as people to welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds,” Cook told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s what makes us special. We ought to pause and really think deeply through that.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One year ago, in the first quarter of 2016, Apple reported a record-breaking profit: $18.4 billion on $75.9 billion in revenue. That was great news, but setting the bar so high was a mixed blessing—Apple’s huge uptick in growth ended there, with declining iPhone sales and profits in the three quarters since.But the company turned that around with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in Apple’s Q1 earnings report on Tuesday. The company broke its own record with $78.4 billion in revenue for the quarter ending December 31—and $54.3 billion of that came from iPhones, of which Apple sold 78.3 million. That’s another record, in case you were wondering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has championed the causes of marriage equality and environmental sustainability in recent years, so its employees looked to the company’s leadership in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries. The order, which restricts immigration from seven countries and outright bans refugees from Syria, was handed down late Friday and led to protests in several U.S. cities and at airports where refugees were being detained.“Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in an email to the company’s employees, later published by Re/code. “I’ve heard from many of you who are deeply concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple is reportedly considering moving some of its iPhone production to the United States. Taiwanese iPhone producer Foxconn is considering a $7 billion joint investment in a display production facility, the company’s chairman told reporters.According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said “Apple is willing to invest in the facility together” because it needs display panels for its products. The plant could create 30,000 to 50,000 jobs.But Gou said U.S.-made iPhones would likely cost more than those produced at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou, China facility, which churns out more than 100 million iPhones per year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has been doomed for decades, if the steady stream of headlines about the company, its stock price, and its product lineup are to be believed. If The Macalope has taught us anything, it's that the Apple deathwatch business is a brisk (and bizarre) one. The truth is much more complex. But by any measure, 2016 was a particularly tough year for Apple.The company endured a bitter legal fight with the FBI, saw its first revenue decline in more than a decade, and faced backlash over hardware tweaks in its upgraded flagship products: the iPhone 7’s lack of a 3.5mm audio jack and the overhauled MacBook Pro’s less-than-pro specs for a decidedly pro price.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Mac Pro and Mac mini have languished for years. The iMac faces increased competition from rivals like Microsoft’s Surface Studio. The MacBook is thinner and lighter than ever, but not more powerful. Critics say it’s clear that Apple has put the Mac on the back burner. In a memo to employees, CEO Tim Cook said nothing could be further from the truth: “We have great desktops in our roadmap,” he wrote, according to TechCrunch. “Nobody should worry about that.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Absurd gifts for Apple fansImage by VioNetBuying a straightforward tech gift for your friends or family members is easy. There are a slew of affordable fitness trackers, laptop bags, and all the other gadgets and accessories your iPhone-addicted loved ones could ask for.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the iOS App Store is seeing a deluge of fake shopping apps branding themselves with designer names in hopes of trapping gullible buyers. Apple is now stepping in to remove the counterfeit apps, which are sneaking in by changing the content after Apple’s approval or by resubmitting apps under different names and credentials after being outed as fraudulent.After reports of apps using reputable companies’ names to shill their fake wares in the App Store surfaced in the New York Times and New York Post, Apple removed hundreds of offenders. But hucksters keep coming back: The Times found that an app called Overstock Inc. was trying to convince shoppers that it was Overstock.com by selling clothes and Ugg boots. Apple killed the app, only to see it return the next day, because sketchy developers are finding new ways to bypass the company’s traditionally tough app review process.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the iOS App Store is seeing a deluge of fake shopping apps branding themselves with designer names in hopes of trapping gullible buyers. Apple is now stepping in to remove the counterfeit apps, which are sneaking in by changing the content after Apple’s approval or by resubmitting apps under different names and credentials after being outed as fraudulent.After reports of apps using reputable companies’ names to shill their fake wares in the App Store surfaced in the New York Times and New York Post, Apple removed hundreds of offenders. But hucksters keep coming back: The Times found that an app called Overstock Inc. was trying to convince shoppers that it was Overstock.com by selling clothes and Ugg boots. Apple killed the app, only to see it return the next day, because sketchy developers are finding new ways to bypass the company’s traditionally tough app review process.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
PC makers have fully embraced touchscreen laptops and desktops, but don’t expect Apple to head down that road.Last week, the company introduced two MacBook Pros that feature slim OLED displays to replace the keyboard’s function keys. Apple launched its latest products just one day after Microsoft unveiled its massive Surface Studio desktop designed for creative professionals, a demographic once solidly in Apple territory. Why didn’t Apple go fully touchscreen with its new MacBooks? Is the Touch Bar an interim step, a sign that Apple is unsure of its footing?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year, IBM made a bold decision. The company let its employees choose between a Windows PC or a Mac for their own work machines. IBM staffers prefer Macs, so the company bought up 30,000 of them. This year, IBM has 90,000 Macs in use. But Macs are expensive, as we all know, so IBM must be spending a fortune on making the switch…right? Apparently not.IBM said Wednesday at the Jamf Nation User Conference that it’s actually saving money on each Mac: $273 to $543 per Mac over four years, compared to a Windows PC over the same time period. And no, that’s not because Microsoft is charging more. Fletcher Previn, IBM’s vice president of workplace as a service (yeah, that’s a real title), said Microsoft is giving IBM its best pricing ever. But Macs are still cheaper over their lifetime, and using them results in fewer service calls.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The first batch of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus reviews are out after five days of hands-on time, and the early word is mostly positive. The camera in particular is a stand-out, and the two lenses on the 7 Plus produce results that easily stand up to the competition, the Samsung Galaxy S7.As expected, dealing with the lack of a headphone jack was perplexing to some and outright irritating for others. But the impressive cameras on both iPhones, plus the improved battery life and water resistance, make them easier to use on the go.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The rumors were true: Apple’s next-generation iPhones, the 7 and 7 Plus, traded the headphone jack for Lightning EarPods. What this means for you: Now there’s one port instead of two. The company is including Lightning-connected earpods with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple is also including a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter in the box to avoid causing too much outrage over supporting non-Lightning headphones. iPhone 7 preorders start Sept. 9 and begin shipping Sept. 16.So why that lack of a jack?“It’s been with us for a really long time,” Apple marketing VP Phil Schiller said during Apple’s iPhone presentation on Wednesday. “It comes down to courage—courage to move on, do something new that betters all of us.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple will take the wraps off the newest iPhone(s) and perhaps a second-gen Apple Watch at an event on Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern. The venue is a standard Apple pick, San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
The invitation, which Apple emailed to media outlets on Monday morning, gives away absolutely nothing. “See you on the 7th,” it says. That’s it. But if history tells us anything, it’s that new iPhones are on deck next week. The invite’s colorful lights could be hinting at that incredible dual lens camera we’ve been hearing so much about, though maybe we’re just grasping there. The next-gen iPhone is also expected to ditch the headphone jack, a controversial decision if ever there was one.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Caitlin McGarry