IT News Blog

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

iOS 10.2 More Difficult To Jailbreak, iOS 10.1.1 Recommended For Future Jailbreaks

If one hacker’s recommendation is anything to go by, iOS 10.2 is more difficult to jailbreak, staying on iOS 10.1.1 is advisable. Here’s what you need to know.

If you’ve been waiting patiently for one of the more prominent development teams to release an iOS 10 jailbreak to the public, then it looks as though that wait could be prolonged for just a little bit longer, at least on later versions of Apple’s iOS platform. Prominent security researcher and developer Luca Todesco has posted a series of tweets pertaining the latest beta build of iOS 10.2, claiming that Apple has patched multiple vulnerabilities which will ultimately make it more difficult to liberate iOS 10.2 and beyond.

ios-10.2-jailbreak-jail

From an iOS security perspective, Todesco is actually extremely well-placed to be able to comment on changes in Apple’s underlying architecture, as well as pass comments on improvements made to protect the iOS ecosystem from being jailbroken.

The developer has not only been involved in finding vulnerabilities in iOS and exploiting them, but was also present at Apple’s Cupertino campus to kick off the companies Bug Bounty Program that ultimately writes cheques to security specialists for finding vulnerabilities in Apple’s products. These latest tweets confirm the security changes made with the latest iOS 10.2 beta.

Todesco started off the tweet storm by confirming that iOS 10.2 “kills many bugs,” and that “staying on iOS 10.1.1 is a wise choice.” That particular tweet didn’t go into any granular detail about the changes made in iOS 10.2, but does provide jailbreak fans with a word of advice to remain firmly on iOS 10.1.1 if they hope to experience an iOS 10 jailbreak sooner rather than later.

ios-10.2-jailbreak-status

The tweets then carried on to suggest that Apple’s latest iOS betas are understandably more secure than the latest stable release, which happens to be iOS 10.1.1, suggesting that those who actually care more about security than liberation and jailbreaks should take the opportunity to move across to the latest build for full security.

At this stage in the iOS 10 landscape, and given the fact that jailbreak teams have been relatively quiet recently, it’s very hard to ascertain where we are at with a public iOS 10 jailbreak. Apple is expected to release iOS 10.2 to the public during next week, which, as we now know, looks to make jailbreaking a device a lot harder for those involved in that particular space. With that in mind, it’s difficult to believe that a jailbreak release is imminent.

(source: @qwertyoruiopz [Twitter])

Apple Watch Set Sales Record In First Holiday Shopping Week, Says CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook has responded to an industry report from market research firm IDC by claiming that the company is on track for the “best quarter ever” from an Apple Watch sales perspective.

The report by IDC had previously stated that Apple’s share of the wearables market had fallen to around the 5% mark, suggesting that fitness trackers were dominating that particular market, and were currently “reigning supreme.” Tim Cook responded to the report with a note issued to Reuters, remaining positive and upbeat about the recent sales performance of Apple Watch.

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The aforementioned IDC report has suggested that Apple shipped approximately 1.1 million Apple Watch units during the third quarter. A number that has fallen from an estimated 3.9 million units during the same time period last year.

The research firm doesn’t have the exact reasons behind the slump in sales, but has speculated that consumers have stayed away from the Apple Watch due to its “aging lineup” and “unintuitive user interface.” Apple has directly addressed those concerns with software updates as well as the release of the Series 2 Apple Watch, but not in enough time to impact third quarter sales.

What’s particularly interesting is that while IDC uses the data to paint a negative picture of Apple Watch performance, Apple CEO Tim Cook has responsibility to the company and its shareholders to paint over that image with positivity. That positivity comes from the fact that Apple Watch has hit a new sell-through rate recently, as well as the opinion that the hardware is going to be one of the most “popular gifts holiday gifts this year.”

apple-watch-series-2

Sales growth is off the charts. In fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch.

Cook is yet to actually respond to requests for specific sales information pertaining to the Apple Watch. Unlike products like the iPhone, iPad, or Mac, Apple doesn’t actively publish or promote the exact sales figures of products like the Apple Watch. Instead, the company groups the hardware into its “other products” category alongside other hardware like Apple TV. What’s your thoughts on the Apple Watch? Is it up there on your list of must haves, or do you think Apple needs to innovate further?

(Source: Reuters)

Monday, 5 December 2016

Single Sign-On Apps Section Now Live On iOS 10.2 App Store

With the official launch of Single Sign-on via both tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 at an unspecified point in the presumably near future, Apple has built a new App Store section which includes a selection of apps that support the new feature.

The new section of App Store is now live for beta testers currently on iOS 10.2 betas and will roll out to everyone in time for the new iOS release to become available to public. The apps are categorized by their respective TV providers, including DirecTV, Dish, Sling TV, Hotwire, and GVTC, with all apps supporting the TV provider’s log-in credentials for easy access.

iOS 10.2

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Single Sign-on, or SSO, allows users to sign into devices or services using a single set of credentials.

Apps or services are then allowed access via those credentials, removing the need for multiple sets of log-ins and credentials for things that tie together nicely. In the example of the App Store, Single Sign-on allows TV providers to give users the option of signing into other apps using the same credentials rather than having to use bespoke usernames and passwords for each app.

As can be seen in the screenshots below, opening an app which supports Single Sign-on will prompt the user to confirm whether they want the app to have access to, in this example, their TV provider’s credentials. If the answer is yes, a tap of a button instantly logs the user in with the minimum of fuss.

SSO iOS 10.2 App Store

If the answer is no however, users will still be able to access the apps, but they will need to log in with their own, app-specific credentials rather than taking advantage of SSO.

Single Sign-on will become available on tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 once they are released following their current beta program sometime later this month.

(via: Reddit)

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Amazon Go Reinvents Grocery Store, Lets You Pickup Goods And Walk Out – No Checkouts, No Lines

Oh Amazon. Bless you and your determination to make buying groceries less of a chore and more of a technological marvel.

We already thank you for Prime and Prime Now, and it looks like we can potentially add Amazon Go to the mix. Announced by the company today, Amazon Go is a retail store of sorts that would allow buyers to turn up, choose their products, throw them in a basket and then walk out the door all without ever waiting in line to checkout or actually paying for anything at the cashier.

Amazon Go main

Of course, this being Amazon, nothing is for free. Orders will, apparently, be charged when a buyer leaves the store which makes plenty of sense, and products will be added to a digital cart automatically as they are added to a physical one in the store thanks to the magic of 2016’s biggest buzz word(s) – machine learning.

Apparently, the stores will sell ready-made food, bread and milk, as well as other day-to-day grocery products. Amazon claims that its stores will be approximately 1,800 square feet in size which makes them comparatively small beside traditional supermarkets.

Still, this is Amazon so we expect there to be some fancy in-store logistics going on in order to pack as many products into that footprint as possible.

Whilst still a concept, Amazon already has its first Amazon Go store located at 2131 7th Ave, Seattle, WA, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street opened to its own employees in beta program, with a more public opening scheduled for as soon as early 2017. Whether it will live up to Amazon’s bold claims remains to be seen, but grocery products as well as ready-made meals will be available at the stores whenever they open to public.

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iOS 10.2 Beta 6 Changes: What’s New?

Now that iOS 10.2 beta 6 is available for compatible devices, here we take a look at changes and new features, if any, in the latest beta seed of iOS 10.2.

Apple has today seeded the sixth beta release of iOS 10.2 to both developers and public beta testers alike, making it just three days since beta 5 and six days since beta 4 were released to the same audience. Apple doesn’t publicly outline timescales for when betas will be released, or when the final versions of software will be ready, but given the rapid iteration that the current beta releases show, we can only assume that iOS 10.2 isn’t too far away from public release.

ios-10.2-emoji-main

The release, which can be downloaded both from the developer portal and via an over-the-air update for both developers and those on the aforementioned public beta program, further tweaks changes that were made over the prior five releases as iOS 10.2 is readied for primetime.

We don’t yet know just what has been changed since beta 5 was pushed into testing channels just a few days ago, and even Apple’s own official changelog of beta 6 is identical to that we saw just three days ago with beta 5. Based on the super quick turnaround and lack of a new changelog, we can only surmise that this release has tweaked something under the hood that Apple sees no need to publicize.

With the betas now rattling out quicker than normal, attention now turns to what iOS 10.2 will bring to iPhones and iPads when it does eventually find its way out of beta.

iOS 10.2 beta 6 OTA

This being a mid-cycle update people should refrain from expecting huge changes, but that doesn’t mean that there are no reasons to look forward to iOS 10.2’s release. New emoji, new wallpapers, new full-screen iMessage effects and the official TV app are all present and correct as part of this update, and have all been tweaked in an attempt to get iOS 10.2 ready for its most gruelling test yet – public release.

Expect that to happen in the coming days or weeks. We wouldn’t want to guess which at the rate these betas are being released!

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Tech Deals: PS4 Slim Bundle, $16 Bluetooth Headphones, Dropbox Pro With Free Gift Card, More

We are now well and truly in the holiday shopping season where more and more individuals are thinking about what to purchase for their loved ones. What better gift is there to give this year than the gift of technology? Check out today’s tech deals to see if there’s anything that would immediately find itself on your shopping list.

Today we are looking at an excellent deal on the PS4 Slim 500 GB Unchartered 4 + 12-months PlayStation Plus bundle. Definitely a must-have, especially for those looking to grab a PS4 Slim this month.

tech-deals-of-the-day-134

If you’re particular about your oral hygiene to the point you would want an electronic toothbrush, the Oral-B Pro 3000 with a rechargeable battery and Bluetooth connectivity is worth taking a look at. Next up, here’s one on the software side; A year worth of subscription of Dropbox Pro now gets you a free $50 Amazon gift card. Last but not the least, we have a $16 pair of Bluetooth headphones which usually cost around $35.

As always, make sure that you grab the product of your choice at the earliest as these deals are time sensitive and subject to stock levels. So keep that credit card close by and stop second guessing your choice. Enjoy the savings!

PlayStation 4 Slim 500GB Console Uncharted 4 Bundle With 12-Months PlayStation Plus ($269.00, usually $360.00)

unchartered-4

If ever there is a time of year when you want to make some great savings on some fabulous consumer technology, this is it. This time of the year is the most popular time for consumers to purchase gaming consoles, with this PlayStation 4 package with Uncharted 4 being a definite hot offer. The package includes a brand new 500GB PlayStation 4 console, a matching DualShock 4 controller, a physical copy of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and free 12-months subscription to PlayStation Plus.

Buy: PlayStation 4 Slim 500GB Console Uncharted 4 Bundle from Amazon: $269.00 | Original price: $360

Oral-B Pro 3000 Rechargeable Electric Bluetooth Toothbrush ($49.99, usually $79.97)

oral-b

Why would you even entertain the idea of having a standard toothbrush, or even an electric one, when you can go one step further and introduce Bluetooth wireless connectivity into your oral hygiene existence? As you would expect from a brush of this nature, it comes with a pro timer to get the brushing experience just right, as well as pressure sensor to ensure that you aren’t placing too much pressure on the teeth or gums when brushing. Oh, and there is also an accompanying smartphone app that utilizes the Bluetooth to provide real-time brushing guidance.

Buy: Oral-B Pro 3000 Rechargeable Electric Bluetooth Toothbrush from Amazon: $50 | Original price: $80

One Year Subscription Of 1TB Dropbox Pro with Free $50 Amazon Gift Card

dropbox-amazon-gift-card

Not only are you going to get a fantastic gift card to spend on Amazon, that you can either use yourself or give to a loved one, but you’re also going to benefit from a twelve months subscription to Dropbox Pro, which comes with a whopping 1TB of storage space. Never lose your files again with everything securely synced to the cloud and instantly pushed across all devices running the Dropbox app.

Buy: One Year Subscription Of 1TB Dropbox Pro from Amazon: With Free $50 Gift Card

Mpow Magneto Wireless Bluetooth Headphones ($16.00 with promo code, usually $34.99)

Mpow-Magneto-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones

The Mpow Magento will never be put in the same bracket as Apple’s wireless AirPods, but at least they are available to purchase and actually use. After all, you can’t listen to music wirelessly from a connected device when the product isn’t on sale yet, can you?

These standard looking sports headphones come equipped with Bluetooth, offer fantastic battery performance, and could be a perfect accompaniment for Apple’s iPhone 7 range.

Oh and at $16, they’re a steal!

Grab the headphones using following promo code at checkout to get them for a reduced price of just $16: LE8DHQ5J.

Buy: Mpow Magneto Wireless Bluetooth Headphones from Amazon: $16.00 | Original price: $35

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2016 MacBook Pro Battery Issues Reported With No Fix Or Explanation From Apple

Some 2016 MacBook Pro owners are reporting battery issues with no fix or official explanation in sight from Apple as yet.

The 2016 MacBook Pro may come with a stunning and innovative Touch Bar embedded above the keyboard, but it seems as though it doesn’t deliver on promises made from Apple on battery life perspective. A growing number of Pro owners who have leaped into the unknown with Apple’s latest MacBook are taking to Apple’s support forums, as well as social media sites, to complain that the hardware simply isn’t delivering the promised ten hours of life from a single charge.

macbook-pro-battery-low

Companies like Apple can never make concrete or bulletproof promises about the exact battery life that a device will provide. After all, it depends significantly on the usage by a user. There are also many other factors that are taken into consideration when determining exactly how long a device will stay powered up for from a single charge. With that said, Apple does claim an all-day battery life with the new MacBook Pro, suggesting that it should be able to stay up to task for around ten hours.

A lot of the complaints on Apple’s own forum are suggesting that their recently purchased MacBook Pro isn’t even capable of giving them 50-percent of that time, with one owner claiming his 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar was suggesting it had 3 hours of battery life left when it had 95-percent showing in the tank. That could be understandable for someone who was running GPU or CPU intensive processes, such as rendering large image files or converting video, but this particular user claims to have simply been using Safari with six tabs open.

I just received my new 15″ MacBook Pro with touch bar. The battery life is horrible!!! I have Safari open with 6 tabs and with 95% battery, I am told that I have under 3 hours of battery life left. I thought these things were supposed to get 10 hours? I ran the battery down in 3 hours last night only browsing the web. I wasn’t watching videos, just browsing. Is there something wrong with my laptop?

macbook-pro-battery

(Image: Apple Support Communities)

The question appears to be the same, with people asking if their particular unit has issues, or if this is actually the level of performance that they can expect by design from the 2016 version of MacBook Pro. Apple has already been on the receiving end of some criticism from MacBook Pro owners over GPU issues and glitches, but it’s likely Apple will need to react very quickly to this latest issue, if only to restore consumer faith in the product.

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IT News Blog

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

iOS 10.2 More Difficult To Jailbreak, iOS 10.1.1 Recommended For Future Jailbreaks

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Apple Watch Set Sales Record In First Holiday Shopping Week, Says CEO Tim Cook

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Monday, 5 December 2016

Single Sign-On Apps Section Now Live On iOS 10.2 App Store

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Amazon Go Reinvents Grocery Store, Lets You Pickup Goods And Walk Out – No Checkouts, No Lines

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iOS 10.2 Beta 6 Changes: What’s New?

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Tech Deals: PS4 Slim Bundle, $16 Bluetooth Headphones, Dropbox Pro With Free Gift Card, More

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2016 MacBook Pro Battery Issues Reported With No Fix Or Explanation From Apple

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