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iOS 12.1.4 Delayed Until Next Week, Apple Apologizes

Andrew Orr ·

Apple issued an apology to MacRumors, saying that a software update to fix the Group FaceTime bug won’t arrive until next week.

We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we complete this process.

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Should Apple Have its own Debit Card?

Andrew Orr ·

John Detrixhe argues that Apple should release its own debit card to prepare for the wave of contactless cards.

But consumers typically avoid moving their financial accounts and tend to be faithful, even when they dislike the service. An Apple debit card is a chance for the Silicon Valley-based company to give customers what they want—for God’s sake—before someone else does.

I’m not sure I’m sold on this idea. For a debit card maybe Apple could work with the bank it uses for device financing. I think what would be nice though is for Apple Pay Cash to work more like its own bank.

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Amazon's Super Bowl LIII Ad Won't Trigger Alexa

Charlotte Henry ·

The adverts are likely to be as big a talking point from this weekend’s Super Bowl as the football. Techcrunch reported on  how  Amazon stops those ads waking millions of Alexa’s across the country. The procedure is relatively simple if Amazon is producing the advert itself. If it isn’t, but “the audio of a request matches that of requests from at least two other customers, we identify it as a media event,” the company explained.  So, come Super Bowl Sunday there should be no incidents like that South Park one.

With its own ads, the company adds a fingerprint of the audio, which is stored on-device. Given the Echo’s storage limitations, additional fingerprints are stored in the cloud, where the assistant can cross-check things before waking. The system generally works pretty well, though complications can occur in, say, a noisy environment (what Super Bowl party has ever been noisy, though?) in which case a longer clip is required to do its job.