Pegasus spyware has infected US State Department officials' iPhones. Photo: Mikhail Nilov@Pexels.com
At least nine U.S. State Department employees saw their iPhone hacked by unknown attackers wielding Pegasus spyware from the Israel-based NSO Group. The attacks occurred over several months, Reuters reported Friday.
Apple has been in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel for a while. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Pay is finally gearing up to launch in Israel, marking the 61st territory to offer Apple’s mobile payment solution. Apple has been supposedly negotiating for months to bring Apple Pay to Israel, six years after the service initially launched in the United States.
The Isracard Group, a financial group including MasterCard and American Express Israel, will support the service. No launch date has yet been announced, although the deal reportedly runs for four years.
But negotiations with banks may not so easy. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is reportedly negotiating with financial institutions to bring Apple Pay to Israel.
A Hebrew-language report says that Apple has been meeting with banks and credit card companies to introduce its contactless payments system. However, Apple’s fee demands could potentially be a source of disagreement between Apple and the financial institutions in question.
Man’s brand new Apple Watch turns out to be toilet plunger Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The Apple Watch Series 4 with LTE connectivity is now available in Austria and Finland for the first time. You can order yours from Apple or select carrier partners, with prices starting at €529.
Apple’s newest wearable will also arrive in Israel later this week.
The site of the Apple Store that now won't happen. Photo: Ted Eytan/Flickr CC
Apple’s plans to open its first official retail store in Israel appear to have run into problems.
A new report claims negotiations between Apple and the property developer and mall owner of the proposed location have broken down over financial terms.
They say turnabout is fair play, but iPhone users are caught in the middle when iOS hacking tools are stolen. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Israel’s NSO Group makes a business of hacking iPhones and Android devices.In a reversal of roles, it was hacked by one of its own employees and valuable intellectual property was stolen.
While its tempting to lean back an enjoy this company’s discomfiture, the stolen property was NSO’s phone hacking tools, which were then offered on the dark web.
Apple is reportedly negotiating to open its first official retail store in Israel.
While Apple products are available in Israel, at present these can be purchased only through two officially sanctioned importers, iDigital and iStore. The rumored location of the new Apple Store is the upmarket Sarona Azrieli tower in Tel Aviv, the tallest skyscraper in Israel.
We're already waiting on next year's iPhone refresh. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The iPhone 7 is barely settling into our pockets, but already Apple is developing the hardware for next year’s tenth-birthday iPhone 8 — at least according to a somewhat dubious new report, citing a source in Apple’s Israel office.
The report claims that hardware for the next-gen iPhone is being developed at Apple’s offices in Herzliya, Israel, and is being referred to internally as the iPhone 8. If true, this would represent a change in Apple’s naming convention, which would suggest that next year’s iPhone will be the iPhone 7s.
Tim Cook is currently visiting Israel in conjunction with Apple opening a new office in Herzliya. As part of the trip, he met with the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin.
The two leaders showed great respect for each other during a chat at the president’s residence. Along with recognizing an Israeli Apple VP in attendance with Cook, Rivlin thanked the Apple CEO repeatedly for “what you are doing for all humanity.” Cook talked about Apple’s love for Israel as an “ally for the U.S.” and a “place to do business.” Cook also praised Rivlin’s work to “bridge the gap” between nationalities and religions in the Middle East.
Tim Cook is heading out to Israel in a few days to inaugurate what will be Apple’s biggest overseas R&D center in Herzliya, but before the place gets Cook’s official visit, Apple is already looking to expand its staff.
Apple announced that its hiring 49 more positions for the Herzliya headquarters as wells as posts at its Haifa office. The 12,500 square-meter Herzliya offices are scheduled to open this week includes a gourmet restaurant, a fish pond and green surroundings.