Australia - page 2

One of Australia’s biggest banks changes mind on Apple Pay

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Australia money
This is a g'day for Apple Pay users.
Photo illustration: Cult of Mac / Picturesofmoney

One of Australia’s largest banks has said that it has listened to its customers and is about to start offering Apple Pay support. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (abbreviated to CommBank) doesn’t give an exact launch date, but a tweet suggests that it’s coming soon.

This is significant due to the fact that CommBank is part of Australia’s “Big Four” largest banks, which previously struggled to come to terms with Apple over mobile payments.

Apple joins tech giants in speaking out against Australia’s anti-encryption law

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Apple continues to put privacy front and center.
Apple continues to speak out about the importance of privacy.
Photo: Apple

Apple has joined other tech giants — including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others — in speaking out against the anti-encryption law recently passed in Australia.

The country’s controversial law means that law enforcement officials are allowed to access encrypted messages when required. Unsurprisingly, tech’s biggest titans are none too happy about it.

Australia’s new anti-encryption laws are bad news for Apple

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Apple takes privacy seriously
Apple is all about privacy.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Australia’s population may be less than 10 percent of the United States’ but its new anti-privacy laws could still have Silicon Valley tech giants quaking in their boots.

The country’s newly passed laws mean that law enforcement officials are allowed to access encrypted messages when required. That affects companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and, yes, Apple.

Apple’s troubled Melbourne flagship store has been pushed back a year

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Oz new store
The original, now abandoned design for Melbourne's flagship Apple Store.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s proposed flagship Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia’s Federation Square has been pushed back at least a year. Work was originally scheduled to start in early 2019. However, now it won’t begin until 2020 — with the eventual opening taking place in 2021.

If it even happens at all, that is.

Google Translate for iOS can speak in Australian, Indian, Spanish accents

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Google Translate can speak in a variety of accents. And it's not just English.
Google Translate can speak in a variety of accents. And it's not just English.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The days are over when Google Translate could only provide spoken translations with an American accent. The latest iOS version adds regional accents from the former British Empire.

And it goes beyond English. French translations can be said in a Canadian accent, for example.

Apple joins other tech giants opposing proposed anti-encryption law

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook is a strong supporter of privacy and encryption.
Photo: Apple

Apple has joined Alphabet, Amazon, and Facebook in opposing a proposed Australian law requiring tech companies to let law enforcement access private encrypted data in suspected criminal investigations.

The law would seek to punish companies which don’t comply with $7.2 million fines, along with prison terms for individuals. It would make Australia one of the first nations to pass major legislation in this area, although other countries may be keen to follow in its footsteps.

Teenager who hacked Apple’s servers gets 8 months’ probation

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hacking pic
Teenager got off without a jail sentence.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Australian teenager who hacked into Apple’s servers and downloaded sensitive data has been given probation in place of a jail sentence.

The verdict was announced on Thursday. The teenager, who carried out the hacking between June 2015 and April 2017, has not been named because their identity as a juvenile offender is protected under Australian law. They were 16-years-old at the time that the first hacking incident took place.

Apple’s proposed Oz flagship store is having a rough ride

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Oz new store
Apple's previous (now-abandoned) design.
Photo: Apple

Will Apple’s proposed flagship Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia’s Federation Square ever happen? Increasingly, the answer appears to be in doubt — although we hope that changes.

In the latest setback to the project, Melbourne City Council has kicked back Apple’s revised designs for the store. Having already changed it once to make it more in keeping with the area, Apple’s updated design is now being accused of causing a, “loss of definition to the square.”

Apple’s plans for flagship store in Oz suffer another setback

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The view from the proposed new store,
The view from the proposed new Apple Store.
Photo: Federation Square/Apple

Apple’s ambitions to open a new “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia, are at risk — thanks to the granting of a new heritage protection order that will let the government deliberate on whether to permanently protect the site.

The store, supposed to be located on Melbourne’s Federation Square, has been the subject of controversy since day one. The new heritage protection status, which runs to late 2018, could prevent Apple from opening its planned retail outlet.

Apple reassures customers after teenager hacked its servers

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The CIA has a team of more than 5,000 hackers.
Teenaged hacker recently plead guilty to charges.
Photo: Brian Klug/Flickr CC

Apple has reassured customers that none of their private data was compromised after a 16-year-old teenager plead guilty to hacking into the company’s servers.

An Apple spokesperson said that, “[We] want to assure our customers that at no point during this incident was their personal data compromised.” The hacker in question managed to download 90 gigabytes of secure files.

Teen pleads guilty to hacking Apple’s computer system

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Proposed bill could hold tech giants more accountable for child exploitation
Teenager was able to hack into Apple's system and access personal data.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An Australian teenager who repeatedly broke into Apple’s computer system is facing criminal charges after Apple contacted the FBI.

The teenager, who hasn’t been named for legal reasons, reportedly downloaded 90GB of secure files and accessed customer accounts. The information was uncovered in a raid on his family home in Melbourne, found in a computer folder called “Hacky hack hack.”

Apple could face new encryption fight in Australia

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encryption
A bill in Australia could force tech companies to give law enforcement a "backdoor" to encrypted data that is part of a suspected crime.
Photo: orangesparrow/Flickr CC

Apple executives could face jail time and multi-million dollar fines if they refuse to hand over private encrypted data linked to suspected crime under a law proposed today in Australia.

The proposed change in telecommunication intercept law will be presented to parliament by Australia’s Ministry for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity. The law would require all technology companies, from Apple and Google to Microsoft and Facebook, to essentially create a so-called “backdoor” to access encrypted data.

Apple switches designs for new Oz store, but some are still unhappy

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New design vs. old design
Apple's new design (left) vs. its original design (right).
Photo: Federation Square

Normally, the addition of a new Apple Store is met with positivity, on account of the prestige and increased foot traffic that it brings to an area. That’s not exactly proving to be the case for Apple’s proposed “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia, however.

Revised drawings for the new store were published on Friday, after Apple scrapped original designs which apparently reminded locals of a toasted sandwich.

Aussie court fines Apple for refusing to fix iPhones bricked by ‘Error 53’

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touchid
Remember Error 53 that bricked so many iPhones because the Home button had an unauthorized repair? It's still haunting Apple.
Photo: Apple

An Australian court levied a A$9M ($6.7M) fine against Apple for refusing to fix iPhones and iPads because they’d had third-party repairs. That’s against the law in that country.

The refusals happened in the midst of the “Error 53” mess, in which iPhone units became permanently disabled after having their Home button replaced by non-Apple repair techs.

Apple celebrates same-sex marriage with heartwarming iPhone X ads

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LGBT iPhone X
New ads celebrate a landmark event.
Photo: Apple

Australia recently voted to legalize same-sex marriage, and Apple applauds it in a series of heartwarming new iPhone X ads, titled “First Dance.”

The Australian market ads are part of Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” series, showcasing the amazing videography and photographic capabilities of the iPhone X.

Check them out below.

Australian government tosses flagship Apple Store objections out of court

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Oz new store
Apple's proposed new Australia flagship store.
Photo: Apple

An attempt to block construction of Apple’s “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia has failed in Australian parliament.

Brought by the Australian Green Party, the attempt to block the building of the new Apple Store in Federation Square claimed that the government was putting corporate interests ahead of those of the public.

‘Global flagship’ Apple Store will open down under in 2020

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Oz new store
A glimpse at how Apple's new store will eventually appear.
Photo: Apple

Apple is opening a new “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia.

Australia’s minister for tourism and major events John Eren described the new venue as being a “major drawcard for visitors and locals,” that would breath “new life into one of Melbourne’s most iconic landmarks.”

iPhone 8 gets lukewarm reception around the world

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iPhone
The iPhone 8 queues in Australia weren't what they've been in previous years.
Photo: S Marshall-McCormack/Twitter

Fans queuing for the latest iPhone is something customary for new launches, but according to reports from across the globe, demand isn’t what it has been in previous years.

Interest in the new handset seems to be muted, with Apple stores seeing a fraction of the lines that have greeted previous iPhone launches. At Apple stores in New York City, where typically hundreds of fans are queued up for hours to buy the iPhone, the entire line was gone within the first hour of the store opening.

Apple execs meet with Australian government to talk encryption

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iPhone hack
The Australian government is no fan of strong encryption
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Australia may not be one of Apple’s biggest markets, but that doesn’t mean that Apple’s not taking its impending law changes regarding strong encryption seriously.

In fact, according to a new report, Apple has flown to of its top privacy executives to the country over the past month to lobby the government over its demands. Apple representatives met with Australian Attorney-General George Brandis and members of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government this week to discuss cybersecurity.

Australia wants Apple to create an iPhone backdoor

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iPhone hack
Apple is unlikely to be totally on-board.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis is set to meet with a representative from Apple this week to discuss the subject of strong encryption, and how this relates to police and intelligence agency investigations.

Brandis is reportedly pushing for Apple to create a backdoor that would allow security agencies to circumvent Apple’s current end-to-end encryption.

Australian watchdog says Apple punishes customers for third-party repairs

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Australia money
Investigation was sparked by Apple's disastrous Error 53 fault.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s Australia headaches are continuing, as the country’s Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) consumer watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the company.

The suit is based on an investigation into Apple’s business practices, sparked by the disastrous Error 53 fault which disabled iPhones which had a home button or cables related to Touch ID replaced by an unauthorized third-party.

Apple’s Sydney store cleared due to possible bomb threat

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Apple_Store_in_George_Street,_Sydney
The George Street Apple store was evacuated.
Photo: Jon Bragg/Flickr CC

Apple’s flagship retail store in Sydney, Australia, was temporarily evacuated earlier today as part of a “police operation.”

A sniffer dog was spotted entering the building, while the three-story venue was cleared of customers by police, who also diverted local traffic. According to one customer who was evacuated, store employees were talking about a bomb threat. She noted that police were “very firm in telling people to leave immediately.”