AT&T Robocalls to Be Blocked in the 'Coming Months'

AT&T robocalls will be automatically blocked, the carrier announced. New customers have the service now, and existing customers will have it «in the coming months.»

AT&T’s Call Protect service does three things: it detects and blocks fraudulent calls entirely, flags telemarketers and spam calls as “Suspected Spam” when the phone rings, and allows you to maintain a personal block list to specifically block individual numbers.

It’s about damn time that carriers start using robocall-blocking technology. And I mean automatically; they all have their various blocking apps.

Fight Climate Change, Get a Free Nomad Lightning Cable

Get a free Nomad Lightning cable when you donate to the company’s Carbon Fund fundraising event. The minimum donation is US$5, which the company will use to plant trees. This is a steal because the cable on offer is normally US$24.95.

Every dollar donated plants a tree in Acre, a region of Brazil, that is being devastated by deforestation. We want to try to reverse this. Every ten trees planted captures around one ton of C02. Learn more about the project.

Comscore Firm Distributes Man-In-The-Middle Proxy Spyware to MacOS

Airo Security uncovered Man-in-Middle Software proxy spyware being distributed to macOS. It came via Comscore subsidiary firm VoiceFive.  In a paper released this week, researchers explained the issue, which put sensitive data at risk.

This Comscore spyware installs a proxy on ports 8888, 8443 and 8254, where it captures all machine’s SSL/TLS traffic of the user. The spyware is being installed as a bundled application that is offered along with the installation flow of other software products. It installs a local system certificate which any application then automatically trusts. If that’s not enough, it imposes a severe security breach by not generating a unique certificate for each machine on which it is installed but rather installs the exact same root certificate for all machines. This is a known bad practice, to say the least, and was in the heart of the infamous “Lenovo Superfish” case of 2015 issued at the time by the US Department of Homeland Security.

Nintendo Switch Lite Coming in September for $199

Nintendo unveiled its Nintendo Switch Lite today, coming in September and costing US$199.

Nintendo Switch Lite has integrated controls and is smaller than the flagship version of Nintendo Switch. It has no kickstand and, as a dedicated handheld gaming device, does not support video output to a TV. Therefore, it does not come with a dock or HDMI cable.

I love my Switch and its great to see a more affordable option.

Spotify: The Game Show Could be on the Way

Not content with music and podcasts, Spotify could be getting into game shows and reality TV.. Music Business Worldwide reported on an intriguing job advert for a Reality Formats Lead it unearthed.

MBW has spotted a job ad for a Los Angeles-based Reality Formats Lead at Spotify, who will oversee the company’s exclusive content strategy within the ‘Reality’ category… One of the most interesting parts of the job description, however, is this: The Reality Formats Lead’s remit will include “shopping fully realized IP to television networks while leveraging existing and new relationships with talent and premium networks.” This suggests that not only does Spotify want to create and publish original audio content in this category, it wants to create original entertainment content for television.

Microsoft Surface by Sir Jony Ive

Speculation is rife about what Sir Jony Ive will work on after he has officially left Apple. On ComputerWorld, analyst Rob Enderle speculates that Sir Jony could end up designing a Microsoft Surface device. I think this is highly unlikely, for a number of reasons, but it is certainly an intriguing idea.

if I were to put something like this together, I’d co-brand it with Jony’s name so that buyers knew that if they wanted a product designed by Jony Ive, this was it. Regardless of whether you believe Cook’s position or not (I clearly do not), the fact is that with Jony gone from Apple and opening his own shop that future Jony Ive products are going to come from, his new customers won’t be his old employer. So, I’m anticipating a line of products from someone with name recognition. And since I’m suggesting that line be the Microsoft Surface, a “by Ive” name would be the most powerful way to achieve it. At the very least, an Apple customer would see a “Surface by Ive” name and at least consider it, where they might not even look twice at any other PC.

Apple's 2019 iMacs Now Available on Refurb Store, Save 15%

Early Tuesday evening, Apple’s 2019 iMacs began appearing on the company’s online Refurb Store, offering savings of approximately 15% off retail pricing. For example, an 8-core, Intel Core i9, 27″ iMac with 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics card runs US$2,999 at retail. On the refurb store this same iMac sells for $2,549, comes with the same as-new warranty, and is eligible for AppleCare+ (just $169). Why only 8GB RAM? Because Amazon sells a Crucial 32GB kit for just $128. Availability on the refurb store is always in flux, so keep looking for what you want. Happy shopping!

Zoom Web Server Will Be Removed in New Update

In an updated blog post, the Zoom web server will be removed in the next update, given recent information that it can be exploited.

JULY 9 PATCH: The patch planned for tonight (July 9) at or before 12:00 AM PT will do the following: 1. Remove the local web server entirely, once the Zoom client has been updated – We are stopping the use of a local web server on Mac devices. Once the patch is deployed, Mac users will be prompted in the Zoom user interface (UI) to update their client. Once the update is complete, the local web server will be completely removed on that device.

Uber Comfort Adds Leg Room, Quiet Drivers

A new Uber Comfort tier lets you ask your drive for silence, and uses cars that have more leg room, climate control, and more.

The move allows Uber to charge more for slightly better vehicles and higher-rated drivers that used to be lumped in with its budget UberX tier. This also lets Uber compensate drivers better if they’re willing to forgo the small talk or crank the air conditioning. “Uber Comfort should result in fares for drivers that are at least 20% higher than UberX (not including surge or promotions) for a trip with the same time and distance” an Uber spokesperson tells me.