Data Privacy Day 2021: Tresorit Responds to Encryption Backdoors

For Data Privacy Day 2021, companies with private products like Tresorit, ProtonMail, Threema, and Tutanota, have issued a joint statement about proposed laws about backdoored encryption.

[…] encryption is an absolute, data is either encrypted or it isn’t, users have privacy or they don’t. The desire to give law enforcement more tools to fight crime is obviously understandable. But the proposals are the digital equivalent of giving law enforcement a key to every citizens’ home and might begin a slippery slope towards greater violations of personal privacy.

Apple Shares ‘MySwimPro’ in Developer Spotlight

Apple has highlighted Fares Ksebati and his app MySwimPro in its Developer Spotlight. It provides aquatic workout videos for athletes.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started? That it’s really important to be consistent, that it takes time to develop, and that if you can just be a little bit better every single day, the compounding impact is absolutely insane. We’ve been at this for five years, which is more than 1,800 days, and we’re trying to be at least 1 percent better each day.

Asus AC1900 T-Mobile Unlocked Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router: $79.99

We have a deal on an Asus AC1900 T-Mobile Unlocked Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router. This is a new, open box model, and it supports dual-band data rates of up to 1900Mbps, 3x faster than standard 802.11n routers. It also has 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and please note that this router is not compatible with Aimesh or Mesh WIFI systems. It’s $79.99 through our deal.

Jean Schulz Discusses Peanuts Partnership With Apple TV+ For The Snoopy Show

On February 5, The Snoopy Show will arrive on Apple TV+. We’ve already seen a trailer for it. Jean Schulz, the widow of late Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz, discussed the forthcoming series with Variety.

We are so happy to have this relationship with Apple TV Plus, because they were one of the only places we talked to who wanted to do new material and be under the guidance [of ] Creative Associates, our creative arm here — people who are steeped in the “Peanuts” lore… New material in creative cooperation with us. Yes, Pixar would do it; other people would do it. But it would be their own project, not a collaboration. I think that probably would be what everybody would want. They want to have control and want it to be what they think is salable. Our interest is in keeping it as true to “Peanuts” as we can — to the comic strip, to my husband’s kind of humor and the humanity that comic strip showed.

Pixelmator Pro ML Super Resolution Now Removes WebP Compression Artifacts

Pixelmator Pro has a new update ready, version 2.0.4. It brings an improvement to its ML Super Resolution image upscaler. It can now remove compression artifacts from WebP files. Another improvement adds support for portrait masks in Apple ProRAW images.

Pixelmator Pro already supports the WebP file format and, as it gains more users around the web, it’s becoming clear that the WebP compression algorithm produces unique compression artifacts. ML Super Resolution has already been trained to remove JPEG artifacts when resampling images but, with today’s update, it can now remove WebP artifacts too.

How Apple Improved iMessage Security in iOS 14

Project Zero, Google’s security team, reverse-engineered iMessage to see how Apple improved it in its latest OS 14 releases. Specially, how it has gained new protections against zero-day attacks using BlastDoor, resliding of the shared cache, and exponential throttling.

One of the major changes in iOS 14 is the introduction of a new, tightly sandboxed “BlastDoor” service which is now responsible for almost all parsing of untrusted data in iMessages (for example, NSKeyedArchiver payloads). Furthermore, this service is written in Swift, a (mostly) memory safe language which makes it significantly harder to introduce classic memory corruption vulnerabilities into the code base.

Mark Zuckerberg says Apple is Anti-Competitive in Facebook Earnings Call

Mark Zuckerberg has once again criticized Apple for its privacy, saying that the company is anti-competitive because of iMessage (among other things).

We increasingly see Apple as one of our biggest competitors,” Zuckerberg said, noting that Apple’s iMessage software is preinstalled on iPhones — enabling it to become the most widely used messaging service in the United States, as opposed to Facebook’s WhatsApp — and that Apple’s growing investment in services also enables it to compete with Facebook and other apps that use its iOS software platform.

Apple Watch Helps Save Cyclist Who Fell into River

We periodically get stories of how an Apple Watch has saved someone’s life. However often they happen, they never stop being amazing. On Thursday, for instance, BBC News reported that a cyclist in the UK was able to call the police from his wearable after he was swept into a river.

The man was swept off his bike into the swollen River Wye in Rotherwas, Hereford, on Thursday. He was carried a mile downstream but managed to grab hold of a branch and spoke to fire control. Station commander Sean Bailey said he was “lucky” to have kept hold of the branch, adding: “We’re very surprised he didn’t lose his grip.” Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester, Mr Bailey said the cyclist was spotted by passers-by who were able to give crews a sense of where he was. “Even with that location it still took us 20 minutes to locate him and rescue him and bring him to safety. “He was speaking to our fire control whilst he was clinging onto a tree, via his Apple Watch, which worked wonderfully well for us to actually get to him as quickly as possible.”

Password Manager Bitwarden Adds Touch ID to Browser Extension

Password manager Bitwarden announced the addition of a couple of new features. One feature adds support for Touch ID and Windows Hello to its browser extensions.

Browser extensions will now be able to access this authentication inside the Desktop application. This allows a more streamlined integration with hardware that does not require a unique browser-level integration. Biometric authentication requires macOS users to download the Mac App Store version.

Buffer Overflow Bug Found in SUDO Dubbed ‘Baron Samedit’

Tracked as CVE-2021-3156, a heap overflow bug found in sudo and dubbed “Baron Samedit” has been found recently. It allows an unprivileged user to gain root privileges on a vulnerable machine using a default sudo configuration.

The vulnerability itself has been hiding in plain sight for nearly 10 years. It was introduced in July 2011 (commit 8255ed69) and affects all legacy versions from 1.8.2 to 1.8.31p2 and all stable versions from 1.9.0 to 1.9.5p1 in their default configuration.

2020-02-03: Looks like macOS is affected after all.

Steve Jobs Unveiled the iPad 11 Years Ago Today

January 27 is a significant date in Apple history. On this day in 2010, Steve Jobs took to the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and unveiled the first iPad. MacRumors has a great write up of the day and a summary of iPad milestones.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Jobs, in a press release on January 27, 2010. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.” The original iPad featured a 9.7-inch display, a single-core Apple A4 chip, up to 64GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, up to 10 hours of battery life, a 30-pin dock connector, and a headphone jack. Notably, the original iPad did not have any cameras. Pricing started at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $629 for the cellular model in the United States.

Research Indicates Apple Has Had Its Best-Ever Quarter in India

Apple’s latest earning call will take place on Wednesday, and you can expect to hear lots about progress in India. TechCrunch reported on new research that indicated that last quarter was the company’s best-ever in the crucial market.

Apple shipped more than 1.5 million iPhone units in India in the quarter that ended in December, up 100% year-on-year, making this its best quarter in the world’s largest smartphone market to date, according to research firms Counterpoint and CyberMedia Research. Thanks to the improved sales of older generation iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone 12 and the newer iPhone SE, Apple doubled its market share in India to 4% in the quarter, the research firms said. Overall, Apple shipped more than 3.2 million iPhone units in India in 2020, up 60% year-on-year, Counterpoint said. The shipment growth comes months after Apple launched its online store in the country and offered customers a wide-range of financing and upgrade options, AppleCare+, and lucrative perks such as a free set of AirPods with the purchase of iPhone 11. The company plans to open its first physical retail store in the country later this year.

Tim Cook to Address European Data Protection Conference

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to speak at the Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection conference this week. Apple’s senior director for privacy, Jane Horvath, is also set to appear, 9to5 Mac reported.

As first reported by Macerkopf, Cook will appear virtually during the CPDP conference on Thursday, January 28. The focus of the CPDP conference this year is “”Enforcement of rights in a changing world,” and Cook specifically will speak at the beginning of the session in a talk titled “A path to empowering user choice and boosting user trust in advertising.” Cook will appear alongside a handful of other privacy executives and politicians, including Apple’s own senior director for privacy Jane Horvath: John Edwards, New Zealand privacy commissioner; Marcel Kolaja, vice president of the European Parliament; Lucy Purdon, policy director, Privacy International; Marshall Erwin, chief security officer, Mozilla; Jane Horvath, senior director for privacy, Apple.

Twitter Client ‘Tweetbot’ Becomes a Subscription App

Tweetbot was updated to version six on Tuesday and it brings several notable features, including the move to subscription pricing.

Even though the Tweetbot subscription isn’t expensive, I think Tapbots owes its users more than it has delivered. It’s a shame because Tweetbot remains one of the premier third-party Twitter clients for iOS. Hopefully, the lack of new features in this update will be addressed in subsequent releases.

Another subscription app that I’ll be deleting. For me, the only advantage Tweetbot has over Twitter is the lack of sponsored tweets, aka ads. While that is a notable feature worth paying for, one downside to Tweetbot includes never getting timely notifications.

HBO Max Harry Potter Series in Early Development

A live-action Harry Potter series for HBO Max is apparently in the works. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that such a project is though in the very early stages of development.

While it’s news that executives at HBO Max and Warners are engaged in meetings to find a writer and pitch for a Harry Potter TV series, no writers or talent are currently attached as the conversations are still in the extremely early stages and no deals have been made. “There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform,” HBO Max and Warner Bros. reaffirmed in a statement to THR. Expanding the world of Harry Potter remains a top priority for HBO Max and Warner Bros., which along with creator J.K. Rowling, controls rights to the property. Harry Potter is one of Warners’ most valuable pieces of IP. (It’s also worth pointing out that while Harry Potter remains a beloved franchise, Rowling sparked backlash from the trans community after saying that transgender individuals should be defined by their biological sex.)

Cut Fiber Cable Causes Verizon Outage on East Coast

A cut fiber cable has been giving Verizon Fios customers issues on the East Coast.

On Twitter, which many still were able to access, people reported they were seeing issues with their Verizon Fios Internet service. Verizon’s customer support team said on Twitter Tuesday that a fiber had been cut in Brooklyn, which could possibly account for some of the issues. The support account on Twitter quickly became inundated with customers asking why their internet was slow and bumpy.

Elon Musk's SpaceX Launches 133 Spacecraft in Single Day

SpaceX launched the most spacecraft in a single day on Sunday, Reuters reported. Elon Musk’s company sent 133 into space on one of its reusable rockets.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10 a.m. EST from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It flew south along the eastern coast of Florida on its way to space, the company said. The reusable rocket ferried 133 commercial and government spacecraft and 10 Starlink satellites to space – part of the company’s SmallSat Rideshare Program, which provides access to space for small satellite operators seeking a reliable, affordable ride to orbit, according to the company. SpaceX delayed the launch one day because of unfavorable weather. On Jan. 22 Musk, also chief executive of Tesla Inc., wrote on Twitter: “Launching many small satellites for a wide range of customers tomorrow. Excited about offering low-cost access to orbit for small companies!”

Developer Complains to EU After Apple And Google Reject Game Encouraging COVID-19 Rule Compliance

A German developer has complained to EU antitrust authorities after Google and Apple rejected his game from the App Store and Play Store, Reuters reported. The game was designed to encourage compliance with COVID-19 rules issued by governments.

Mueller says the app rules set by the two U.S. tech giants are holding back innovation, in breach of EU regulation, after both companies rejected his Corona Control Game app in November. Google and Apple rules say COVID-19 related apps must be government approved in order to avoid promoting conflicting or incorrect health advice. Google told Reuters in response to Mueller’s complaint that it only approves apps that reference COVID-19 or related terms if they are published, commissioned, or authorized by an official government entity or public health organization. Apple had no immediate comment but referred to guidelines issued in March which say entertainment or game apps with COVID-19 as their theme will not be allowed.

Microsoft Edge Update Adds Built-in Password Manager

Version 88 of Microsoft Edge adds a new security feature for users. A built-in password manager makes it easy to keep your logins safe. It also scans for breached passwords on the dark web and notifies you if it finds a match.

Password Monitor will begin rolling out today with Microsoft Edge 88, but it may take a couple weeks for you to see it in your browser. For more information on how Password Monitor works, take a look at the latest blog from Microsoft Research.

Back Bay Duet 50 Slim Wireless Earbuds: $42.99

We have a deal on a pair of Back Bay Duet 50 Slim Wireless Earbuds. According to the company, they feature strong bass, relaxed, natural midrange, and crisp highs, with up to 8 hours of battery life. The charging case holds up to 32 hours of battery life, too. They’re $42.99 through our deal.

LG's UltraFine 4K Display Not Listed in Apple Stores in Europe

LG’s UltraFine 4K is not available in Apple Stores online across Europe, MacRumors reported. The Mac Observer took a look at found that indeed in some countries, like the UK, the 5K model is available. However, in others, nothing is listed.

This isn’t the first time LG’s UltraFine Displays have been unavailable to order on Apple’s online stores in some parts of the world. However, on previous occasions, the displays were out of stockand eventually replenished, and at no time were the listings removed. That they have been this time round could suggest that one or both are set to be discontinued. Introduced in May 2019, the UltraFine 4K features a 23.7-inch display with a 3,840 x 2,160 pixels resolution, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, three downstream USB-C ports, up to 500 nits brightness, P3 wide color gamut support, and built-in stereo speakers. The display is priced at $699.95 on Apple’s online store in the United States.

Save us From a Portless iPhone

Rumors are swirling that future iPhones may not have any ports. Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac explains why a portless iPhone would be a horrible idea.

First off, there’s iPhone recovery. If something goes seriously wrong with your iOS handset, the cure is to hook it to a Mac or PC and use recovery mode. The need for this is rare, but occasionally crops up when operating system updates go horribly wrong. Without a Lightning port, this is impossible. The only option would be to send the iPhone to Apple or an authorized repair tech. A minor hassle suddenly becomes a major one. Next, even assuming the future portless iPhone comes with MagSafe, wireless charging will still be slower than wired. And the handset itself will cost more to make because Apple will (probably) put a MagSafe charger in the box. And they’ll cost users extra because most people will want to buy extras to have additional chargers at work, in the car, etc. Plus, you can say goodbye to some great accessories…

How, and Why, Laurene Powell Jobs Became a Force in U.S. Media

In recent years Laurene Powell Jobs has become a major presence in U.S. media, investing millions. The Colombia Journalism Review has a really good profile of Steve Jobs’s widow and looks at what her Emerson Collective is trying to achieve.

The organization started small; in the early years, it was focused primarily on advocacy work in education, climate, immigration, and gun violence prevention. Powell Jobs gave money to a handful of nonprofit newsrooms engaged with those subjects, such as Chalkbeat. She also invested in Ozy Media, a millennial news site cofounded by a friend of hers. But it was not until 2016, around the time of McGray and Edwards’s visit to Palo Alto, that Emerson started a major expansion that included, for the first time, a determined focus on media. In the years since, Emerson’s media investments have grown quickly in scale. Through Emerson, Powell Jobs has acquired equity in a number of Hollywood production companies, including a controlling share of Anonymous Content, which helped create Mr. Robot, Spotlight, and George Clooney’s Midnight Sky. Since 2015, according to a person familiar with Emerson’s finances, she has spent roughly a quarter of a billion dollars on journalism