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Antitrust Lawsuit Reveals Apple-Google Search Relationship

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. government has sued Google, saying the company is a monopoly that uses its power to crush competition in search. Mark Gurman writes about the money that Google pays Apple for it to be the default search engine. I’ve been disappointed in this, because a lawsuit from previous years alleges Google pays Apple around US$12 billion to be the default. Apple can do better.

The details, many of which have not been disclosed before, may support the U. S. government’s allegation that Google uses these agreements to block out search rivals and give consumers less choice. Google called the government’s case “deeply flawed” and said it would hurt consumers because it would “artificially prop up” lower-quality search options.

Artificially prop up lower-quality search options. Wouldn’t paying Apple be artificially propping up Google? I spent a day drinking beer and eating potato chips watching Bill Gates’ deposition for fun. I’m sure the one with Sundar Pichai will be equally entertaining.

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Apple Removed a Third Party Google Stadia App

Andrew Orr ·

StApple recently removed Stadium, an app that let people use Google Stadia’s game streaming service on iOS.

Specifically, Knox says Apple objects to how his app is “extending WebKit with native APIs to connect with Bluetooth.” This is what allowed the app to connect Bluetooth controllers to Stadia. Apple’s ruling appears to refer to section 4.7 of Apple’s App Store guidelines, which governs web-based games on the platform.

At first I thought it was removed because some random non-Google party created a Google service workaround. But it sounds like it’s more because of API specifics, or at least that’s the official Apple statement.

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Address Bar Spoofing Bugs Surface on Mobile Browsers

Andrew Orr ·

A number of address bar spoofing vulnerabilities have surface on mobile browsers, and Rafay Baloch wrote about them. There was one found in Safari but Apple patched it in September with iOS 13.6. The other bugs mostly concern Opera.

With ever growing sophistication of spear phishing attacks, exploitation of browser-based vulnerabilities such as address bar spoofing may exacerbate the success of spear phishing attacks and hence prove to be very lethal. First and foremost, it is easy to persuade the victim into stealing credentials or distributing malware when the address bar points to a trusted website and giving no indicators forgery, secondly since the vulnerability exploits a specific feature in a browser, it can evade several anti-phishing schemes and solutions.

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iPhone 12 Preorders Beat Its Predecessor, Says Ming-Chi Kuo

Charlotte Henry ·

iPhone 12 pre-orders in the first 24-hours of availability surpassed those for the iPhone 11 in the same time period. That’s according to a note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, seen by CNBC.

In a research note Monday, Kuo reported that Apple sold up to 2 million iPhone 12 units in the first 24 hours, up from 800,000 units of the iPhone 11. But for the full weekend of preorders, which ended Sunday, Kuo predicted Apple would sell up to 9 million iPhone 12 units, down from the iPhone 11′s 12 million for the same period. The iPhone 12 Pro sold better than expected thanks to strong demand in China, Kuo said

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Is Apple’s iPhone 12 Decision Really Better for the Environment?

Andrew Orr ·

Imad Khan writes how switching to a USB-C port would be more environmental than Apple’s decision not to include a charger in the box.

And let’s not forget that Apple will still need to ship tiny Type-C power adapters across the world to accommodate the new cable included with the iPhone 12. While these new adapters will have a long shelf life, it will cut back on the emissions savings that Apple so proudly publicizes.

This is the part I agree with. What are the environmental logistics of shipping multiple lighter packages versus one heavier one?

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How Homeland Security Caught Suspect in R. Kelly Case

Andrew Orr ·

A recently revealed warrant in the R. Kelly case revealed how U.S. Homeland Security used a Google search warrant.

Homeland Security special agent Sylvette Reynoso testified that her team began by asking Google to produce a list of public IP addresses used to google the home of the victim in the run-up to the arson. The Chocolate Factory complied with the warrant, and gave the investigators the list.

As we discussed on Security Friday today, it’s cool that law enforcement was able to do this, yet simultaneously scary since it involved a dragnet of Google users.

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How Apple Added LiDAR to iPhone 12 models

Andrew Orr ·

Timothy B. Lee wrote a fascinating write-up of the iPhone 12 LiDAR sensor for Ars Technica. It’s a technology that used to be US$75,000.

Two of the companies working on high-end VCSEL-based lidar—Ouster and Ibeo—have already gotten more traction than most companies in the crowded lidar business. Apple’s decision to adopt the technology—and the possibility that other smartphone vendors could follow Apple’s lead—will provide them with a nice tailwind in the coming years.

A great explainer, and I wrote about the other iPhone 12 camera features here.

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Snapchat Competes With TikTok and Launches ‘Sounds’

Andrew Orr ·

Snapchat launched a new feature on Thursday called Sounds. It lets users add song clips to their snaps and stories, and it’s currently only available in the iOS app.

With Sounds on Snapchat, users of the iOS app worldwide can add music to their Snaps (pre- or post-capture) from a curated catalog of music. Snapchatters can add music before recording video by selecting the Sounds tool (with the music notes icon) on the right-hand side of the Camera screen and choosing a track from the Featured Sounds list. Alternately, they can select a track from the Sounds tool after taking a Snap.

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Snapchat Rolls out Lens Studio Update for iPhone 12 LiDAR Lenses

Andrew Orr ·

Snap, Inc. has updated its Lens Studio tool to let people make LiDAR lenses for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. It will bring a better AR experience for Snapchat users.

Version 3.2 of Lens Studio includes an interactive preview mode to provide an idea of how the LiDAR lenses work, even before the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max start shipping. Creators can also preview their LiDAR lenses in the Snapchat app if they have the most recent iPad Pro.

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Barnes & Noble Hack Revealed in Emails to Customers

Andrew Orr ·

A Barnes & Noble hack occurred on Saturday, October 10, customers learned in an email from the retailer. Data that was accessible included email addresses, billing/shipping addresses, and telephone number. Financial data like credit cards were safely encrypted.

According to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Twitter account, a “system failure” was responsible for the service interruption for Nook owners. The firm said it was “working urgently to get all NOOK services back to full operation. Unfortunately it has taken longer than anticipated, and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and frustration.”

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Sony PS4 Update Will Monitor Your Party Chats

Andrew Orr ·

In a 8.00 PS4 update today, players must agree to have their voice chats monitored for moderation purposes. It’s a gross breach of privacy and fans are understandably upset.

Fans noticed that upon downloading PS4 update 8.00, they were greeted by a message telling them that voice chats can now be recorded and subject to moderation. Not only that, but anyone that uses the PS4 party chat system has to agree to their voice being recorded.

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Magnetic iPhone 12-Compatible PopSockets are Coming

Andrew Orr ·

Magnetic iPhone 12-compatible PopSockets are coming in the future that won’t require you to stick it on with adhesive.

Conversely, it could open PopSockets to more competition in the accessories market, as companies won’t have to out-engineer the Grips and their patent-protected technology. Instead, rivals could simply expand their existing product lines with MagSafe-compatible items for an upcharge and increase their revenues.

PopSockets says it has MagSafe products in development, but isn’t announcing details at this time.

I thought these might show up. I look forward to seeing other MagSafe accessories (I like Apple’s wallet).

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Pandora Will be Available on HomePod, HomePod mini

Andrew Orr ·

As we saw during Apple’s virtual keynote on Tuesday, Pandora joins other services by coming to the HomePod and HomePod mini.

With Pandora on HomePod, users will be able to easily play their favorite Pandora content and control their listening experience hands-free by using simple Siri voice commands, such as:

“Hey Siri, play some relaxing music on Pandora.”

“Hey Siri, play the Sway’s Interviews podcast on Pandora.”

Pandora will be available on Apple HomePod soon. Once available, users will be able to enable Pandora listening directly from HomePod by tapping this link via their iOS device

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Jordan Geary and Cody Talk ‘Helpsters’ Season 2

Andrew Orr ·

Sesame Workshop producer Jordan Geary and Cody the Helpster (puppeteer Stephanie D’Abruzz) talk about “Helpsters” season 2 and the overall goals of the show. New episodes arrive October 16.

Apple is just where storytellers go to tell their stories. And at Sesame Workshop, we pride ourselves on being the leading educational entertainment company for kids. When were talking about what we would like to do together, the biggest thing everyone kept on saying is, “We want to help people. We want to help kids.” What kind of content can we make that can help kids? Well, why don’t we just have a team of monsters called the Helpsters, and all they do is help people?

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Spotify Limits Music Transfer App ‘SongShift’ for its Platform

Andrew Orr ·

SongShift is an app that helps you transfer your songs between different streaming services. But Spotify is putting its foot down. Users can transfer songs from other services to Spotify, but not transfer them out of Spotify.

To continue to provide some level of support for Spotify, we’ll still be supporting transferring from other services to Spotify. We will continue to roll out planned features for SongShift. Some quality of life improvements, some new supported services, and other things best left a surprise.

*Any new features will have the same limitation of not supporting transfers out of Spotify.

You’ve heard of Spotify, the company that criticizes Apple for alleged anti-competitive behavior.

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Apple’s Chip VP Tim Millet Talks About Designing the A14

Andrew Orr ·

Tim Millet, Apple’s VP of platform architecture, and Tom Boger, senior director of Mac and iPad product marketing, talk about designing the A14 used in the iPad Air and upcoming iPhone 12.

“One of the ways chip architects think about features is not necessarily directly mapping [transistors] to a user feature in the product so much as enabling the underlying technology, like software in the graphics stack to be able to leverage a new capability in the GPU,” Millet said. “That will inevitably come as a visual feature in a game, or in a snappy transition in the user interface.”

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ARTBAT Drops ‘One Mix’ Exclusively on Apple Music

Andrew Orr ·

Ukrainian duo ARTBAT have recently released their hour-long One Mix and it’s exclusive to Apple Music.

This exclusive new mix features their trademark brand of melodic, emotive and atmospheric techno and comes hot on the heels of their massive No.1 track ‘Best Of Me‘ featuring Sailor & I on Metaphysical.

That tune is their third Beatport main chart No.1 in a row following the massive CamelPhat collaboration ‘For A Feeling‘ and their excellent ‘Keep Control‘ remix.

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Here’s Why the iPhone 12 Could Have a Smaller Notch

Andrew Orr ·

Spotted by @AppleSWUpdates and enhanced by 9To5Mac, design assets were found on the iCloud website that shows a newer iPhone with a slightly smaller notch. It’s not much but it’s noticeable.

These, of course, might also be placeholders to hide the official icons until tomorrow’s event. But the icons are identified as “iPhone13, x” which confirms that they were uploaded to represent iPhone 12, since iPhone 11 is internally identified as “iPhone12, x.”

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Report: Some Robinhood Accounts Were Hacked

Andrew Orr ·

Bloomberg reports that some Robinhood users had their accounts hacked and investments liquidated. But Robinhood said that the company itself wasn’t hacked.

A limited number of customers appear to have had their Robinhood account targeted by cyber criminals because of their personal email account (that which is associated with their Robinhood account) being compromised outside of Robinhood. We’re actively working with those impacted to secure their accounts.

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Here Are 6 Privacy Reasons You Should Delete WhatsApp

Andrew Orr ·

Sebastian Meineck shares six privacy reasons people should delete Facebook-owned WhatsApp from their devices.

But WhatsApp also has its flaws. On closer inspection, user privacy and data protection are no longer its priority, and plans to merge it with other Facebook-owned services like Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs are concerning.

Signal is a good open-source private messenger to use instead.

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Belgium Drops Huawei in Favor of Nokia 5G Contracts

Andrew Orr ·

Amid U.S. pressure to exclude Chinese company Huawei from 5G infrastructure, Belgium is moving forward to work with Nokia.

The Belgian capital Brussels is home to the NATO alliance and the European Union’s executive and parliament, making it a matter of particular concern for U. S. intelligence agencies.

“Belgium has been 100% reliant on Chinese vendors for its radio networks – and people working at NATO and the EU were making mobile phone calls on these networks,” said John Strand, an independent Danish telecoms consultant.

“The operators are sending a signal that it’s important to have access to safe networks.”

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Apple’s Internal Networks Were Hacked for Three Months

Andrew Orr ·

But don’t worry, they were hacked by good guys working under Apple’s bug bounty program. Sam Curry, Brett Buerhaus, Ben Sadeghipour, Samual Erb, and Tanner Barnes found a total of 55 vulnerabilities.

During our engagement, we found a variety of vulnerabilities in core portions of their infrastructure that would’ve allowed an attacker to fully compromise both customer and employee applications, launch a worm capable of automatically taking over a victim’s iCloud account, retrieve source code for internal Apple projects, fully compromise an industrial control warehouse software used by Apple, and take over the sessions of Apple employees with the capability of accessing management tools and sensitive resources.

When I first saw the news I was aghast to learn that Apple only paid them US$55,000, but the blog post was updated to add that the team so far has gotten 32 payments totaling US$288,500. Still doesn’t seem enough to me. Apple needs to work on its internal security.

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Privacy Advocates Call on Tim Cook to to Implement iOS 14 Privacy Features

Andrew Orr ·

Ranking Digital Rights, along with seven other organizations, sent a letter [PDF] to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging the company to implement iOS 14 privacy features that are delayed until 2021.

Apple has the opportunity to reinforce its position as an industry leader on protecting the privacy of its users by empowering them to control who can track their online behavior. At the same time, this change can and should enable the company to become more transparent about how it enforces its terms against apps that violate its policies. By delaying the introduction of crucial privacy measures, the company is slowing the momentum it created.