This New App Brings iMessage to Android and Windows

Beeper is a new chat app that combines 15 different messaging platforms into one interface. One of those messaging apps includes iMessage and there’s “some trickery” involved, as Eric Migicovsky says. You can install the Beeper Mac app to act as a bridge for iMessage. If you don’t have a Mac, Beeper will send you a jailbroken iPhone with the Beeper app installed to act as a bridge. “Just in case you thought Beeper was joking, in a followup tweet, Migicovsky said that he currently has 50 old iPhone 4S’s at his desk, ready to be upcycled for use with Beeper.”

HomePod mini, Arcade, and Waiting for M-Processor Macs, with Bob LeVitus - ACM 542

Bryan Chaffin and Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus have both spent time with the HomePod mini, and they offer their thoughts on what it sounds like, where it’s useful, and who should consider it. They also talk about the value of Apple’s Arcade, especially now that it’s part of Apple One. They also talk about the power of Apple’s new M1 Macs, and discuss if people should buy Intel Macs at all any more.

Google Still Doesn’t Have iOS 14 Privacy Labels

I’ve been hesitant to keep sharing these stories. At the time this news first appeared I was skeptical, saying that we just got over the holidays so give Google a break. But as the days turn into weeks, this is when it does start to look damning and now it’s time to give Google some heat.

On January 5, Google told TechCrunch that the data would be added to its iOS apps “this week or the next week,” but both this week and the next week have come and gone with no update. It has now been well over a month since Google last updated its apps.

EU Fines Valve And Five Other PC Games Publishers

The European Union Commission issued fines totalling €7.8 million ($9.4 million) to Valve and five other games publishers on Wednesday, Techrunch reported. It followed a lengthy investigation that found that firm’s had broken the bloc’s rules.

The geo-blocking practices investigated since before 2017 concerned around 100 PC video games of different genres, including sports, simulation and action games. In addition to Valve — which has been fined just over €1.6 million — the five sanctioned games publishers are: Bandai Namco (fined €340,000), Capcom (€396,000), Focus Home (€2.8 million), Koch Media (€977,000) and ZeniMax (€1.6 million). The Commission said the fines were reduced by between 10% and 15% owing to cooperation from the companies, with the exception of Valve, which it said chose not to cooperate (a “prohibition Decision” rather than a fine reduction was applied in its case).

Linux Now “Completely Usable” on Apple Silicon M1 Macs

A version of Linux now works on Apple Silicon M1 chip, AppleInsider reported. Security researchers at Corellium ported the operating system, and plan to release it under an open-source license.

The Linux version is a full Ubuntu desktop operating system booted from a USB, according to Corellium Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade. Although details are scarce, he said that Linux is now “completely usable” on Apple Silicon machines. Network compatibility is possible through a USB-C dongle, and the current update to the platform will support USB, I2C, and DART. The Ubuntu operating system is one initially meant for the ARM-based Raspberry Pi, Wade added.

The Story of the 30-Year-Old PDF Format

The Portable Document Format (PDF) has been around for thirty years. But how did it become so ubiquitous? Rob Walker shares the interesting story.

The PDF keeps spreading not because Adobe or any company forces others to use it, but because of “millions of people all over the world,” Parmenter says, “just doing their thing.”

MindNode Update Adds Editable Outlines

MindNode updated its mind mapping app recently with a feature many users have wanted. Along with editing maps, outlines can also be edited. Nodes can be added, removed, indented/outdented, and reorganized directly. Other features include: Improved color pickers in the Inspector; Improved support for files from other apps that use Markdown; Fixed an issue where the Inspector would close when the icon of the open section was clicked. The update is currently available for the Mac app, but updates to MindNode for iOS/iPadOS are sure to follow.

Should Apple Build Netflix For Podcasts?

Rumors abound that Apple is to launch a Podcasts+ subscription service to compete with Spotify. In his latest Vulture column, Hot Pod’s Hot Pod‘s Nick Quah looked at whether he should and highlighted some difficulties that the company may come across.

You have to start with the reality that nobody’s really figured out a Netflix-esque paid subscription service for podcasting just yet, which is another way of saying that audiences haven’t sufficiently expressed interest in that kind of relationship with podcasts … or that audiences haven’t been sufficiently conditioned to want to pay for a service that would serve them podcast-like experiences. For all intents and purposes, Luminary went nowhere, notable only for its achievements in raising investment money and driving headlines. Meanwhile, other examples that can be evoked — whether it’s Stitcher Premium or Quake Media — seem largely limited in their respective achievements. We simply haven’t seen meaningful efforts at a true podcast equivalent to Netflix or even something more genre-specific like Crunchyroll, Shudder, or the Criterion Channel.

Malwarebytes Reveals it Was Hacked by Nation State Behind ‘SolarWinds’

Malwarebytes co-founder and current CEO Marcin Kleczynski reveals the company was hacked. He believes it was the same nation state actor behind the SolarWinds attack. The state is believed to be Russia.

After an extensive investigation, we determined the attacker only gained access to a limited subset of internal company emails. We found no evidence of unauthorized access or compromise in any of our internal on-premises and production environments.

Crazy stuff, and we’ll probably hear of the fallout for a long time.

AirPods Max Headbands Could be Interchangeable

iFixit published a tear down of the AirPods Max and it reveals, among other things, that the headband could be interchangeable.

It was rumored that Apple wanted to design the AirPods Max headband to be easily-swappable like its magnetic ear cups. That feature was thought to be missing from the final design, but this joint is so complex it just might have one more thing up its sleeve…despite the joint’s complexity, you can detach the entire headband from AirPods Max with just a SIM card removal tool or paperclip, without even opening the ear cup.

Bug Lets Audio, Video be Transmitted Without Consent in Apps Like Signal

Google’s Project Zero security team found a bug that lets audio and video be transmitted without user interaction in five messaging apps. These are Signal, JioChat, Mocha, Google Duo, and Facebook Messenger. All bugs have been fixed.

I investigated the signalling state machines of seven video conferencing applications and found five vulnerabilities that could allow a caller device to force a callee device to transmit audio or video data. All these vulnerabilities have since been fixed. It is not clear why this is such a common problem, but a lack of awareness of these types of bugs as well as unnecessary complexity in signalling state machines is likely a factor.