News - page 2024

OS X Lion is being hailed by many as the most secure operating system yet, not just from Apple, but in total. In particular, its FileVault encryption rewrite is being widely hailed as one of the most secure, low-overhead ways yet to keep your data safe.

But behind all the talk, there’s a huge security hole in OS X Lion that has been present at least since Snow Leopard. Any Mac with a Firewire port is vulnerable to it, and it’s so easy to exploit that any hacker with physical access to your computer can get your password within minutes.

Although not the smallest, Apple’s planned store in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal could be the tech giant’s cheapest Big Apple location. The backdrop of countless movies, the cavernous Grand Central turns out to be less expensive than your average Manhattan store front.

The latest patent to surface from the Cupertino camp shows Apple has been working on a physical keyboard that does away with physical keys. That’s right — a keyboard, much like the one you might have in front of you now, but without keys. Instead, you’ll use piezoelectrics, haptic feedback and acoustic pulse recognition to type.

It was revealed yesterday that the long-awaited Facebook app for iPad was already here — not in the App Store, but hidden away inside the Facebook app for iPhone. We published details on how to install the app on your iPad, but soon after the news spread, Facebook decided to block access to those using the app before its public release.

Fortunately, as is often the case with these things, jailbreakers have provided a workaround — a new tweak called FaceForward that reactivates the official Facebook app for iPad.

The staggering success of Apple’s iPad has inevitably spawned a myriad of wannabe devices from a large number of electronics manufacturers. While many of these tablets are yet to really compete with Apple’s tablet, the Cupertino company is still preparing itself for a worthy adversary by “adjusting the cost structure” of the iPad 3.

Amazon’s Kindle app for iOS was updated yesterday in order to comply with Apple’s latest in-app purchase terms and secure its place in the App Store. In addition to removing the link to its external Kindle store, however, did you notice that the update introduced more than 100 magazine and newspaper subscriptions to iOS?

Apple’s latest iOS 4 update dropped yesterday, which “fixes a security vulnerability with certificate validation.” Jailbreakers were initially advised not to update to the latest firmware, but as long as you’re happy with a tethered jailbreak for the foreseeable future, you’re safe to go ahead and update your device and then jailbreak with the latest RedSn0w release.

I’m not sure whether this guy over on the Apple Support forums is genuine, or whether he’s set up this thread purely for fun, but either way it’s hilarious. Having recently purchased an iPad 2, ‘Michael K. W’ is seriously considering returning his device to the Apple store because he cannot get his CDs inside.

Judging by the name “VooMote One” — the name German-based Zero1.tv came up with for its just-launched VooMote One app-enhanced universal remote for iPhone — German words sometimes don’t translate too well into English. Hopefully its super-customizable app will do all the talking.

There’s no shortage of covers for the iPad out there — but there aren’t many that many with Booq’s new Viper Slider’s executive panache at this price point.

Ever since we drooled over Griffin’s StompBox at CES, the more musically intrigued members of our gang have been eagerly waiting for the jazzed-up, four-switch pedal box to actually arrive (I’m pretty sure our Lonnie Lazar has been sitting there, forlorn and imploring, like some lost, guitar-wielding puppy). Wait’s over, Lonnie — it’s here.

We all know that Macs are easy to use, but this just takes the cake. Notice the instructions for setting up Mac.. er McDonalds free Wi-Fi on Windows and the Mac.

As John Gruber notes, “There is no step four.”

If you haven’t already, stop reading this and check out Buster’s awesome review of the new MacBook Air. The machine is absolutely gorgeous. And powerful, too.

One of the MacBook Air’s main draws is its lightning-fast solid-state hardrive. An SSD outperforms traditional hardrives because all storage and data transfers happen virtually, instead of having to travel across a physical platter.

Apparently, Apple is shipping some of these brand new MacBook Airs with the same SSDs from older notebook models.

Apple has pushed out an update for you retro folks that are still on OS X Snow Leopard. A new supplemental update for 10.6.8 addresses some issues when migrating your Mac from Snow Leopard to Lion, as well as a few more bug fixes.

Facebook apparently likes to play hardball. This morning, we told you about the hidden, iPad-optimized Facebook app that was secretly nestled in the current, iPhone-only app.

Looks like Facebook didn’t like its secret creation getting leaked out for the world to see, and it appears that the Facebook for iPad workaround has already been blocked.

Following over a year of rumors and anticipation, Apple is finally set to build its largest retail location ever right in the heart of Grand Central Station, New York.

In classic Apple retail tradition, the new store is expected to be a crown jewel among architectural achievements. A beautiful rendering of “Apple Store, Grand Central” shows just how incredible the new flagship store will be for Apple and Grand Central commuters alike.

Editor’s note: This code in this post has been updated from the original to reflect a more targeted animation-disabling conmand line defaults write string.  Thanks to reader Phillip Ridlin for the alert.

Are you running Lion on your desktop and finding the new window animation functionality in Mail.app annoying? You’re not alone, apparently.

Well, that didn’t last long: just a few hours after being yanked from the iOS App Store for failing to comply with Apple’s revised in-app purchasing rules forbidding direct links to outside, web-based e-stores, Google Books has been re-instated, sans the offending link.

Nicely done, Apple. Looks like no one can afford to play hardball with you on this, not even Google or Amazon.

Well, that was quick. Just a little over a week after Apple released iOS 4.3.4, plugging up the JailbreakMe v3 hole, Apple has already released iOS 4.3.5. But what’s the update for?

For many of us early testers, one of the biggest barriers to using iOS 5 Beta as a full-time upgrade on our iPhones and iPad has been the lack of Netflix streaming. That wasn’t an iOS bug, just a lack of support on Netflix’s end… a lack of support which has now delightfully been fixed.

Not much else to say: right on the heels of our story that Google Books had been kicked off the App Store for failing to comply with Apple’s new in-app purchasing rules, Amazon has removed a link to its outside e-store, now fully complying with Apple’s rules.

Two fingers are enough for many tasks – a Boy Scout’s salute or a Peace Sign – but it may not be enough for tablet users. Unless you are Amazon looking for ways to undercut the iPad price by offering cheap touchscreen displays. The Internet retailer’s foray into tablets starts with a device limited to just two fingers — enough to give a one-fingered sign of displeasure.

It’s looking increasingly likely as the weeks go on that Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone will launch this September, and strengthening all that speculation is a new report that claims AT&T is now beginning to communicate launch plans to its staff.

How many times a day do you enter your iTunes password to download new apps or updates on your iOS device? If you’re anything like me, your answer will be “too many times!”

Fortunately, an upcoming jailbreak tweak from Filippo Biga will ensure you never need to enter it again.

Apple has just seemingly banned its first big name app for not playing along with Apple’s revised In-App Purchase rules, as Google’s official Google Books app, which contained a prominent web link to an outside e-store, has disappeared from the App Store. If it has happened to Google, will Amazon’s Kindle app be the next app to disappear?