Microsoft updated its OneDrive iOS app this week with a couple of features requested by premium users, with the added bonus that the improvements can be used by free 5GB account holders as well.
First up, Microsoft has added support for animated GIF files in OneDrive, which should come as good news for users working with marketing and promotional content. The GIFs can now be viewed from within the cloud file browser, instead of having to download and preview them outside the app.
Version 8.8.9 also brings fast account switching to the cloud client app. According to Microsoft, users now only need to tap and hold on the Me tab to instantly switch between accounts, whether free or premium.
Elsewhere, student users who own either work or school accounts are now able to receive notifications whenever someone shares a file with them, while Microsoft has also added Instant Preview support in the Sites tab.
Lastly, a number of other smaller bugs and crash issues have also been fixed. OneDrive is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Samsung chief Jay Y Lee has been arrested over his alleged role in an influence-peddling scandal that reaches to the highest levels of the South Korean government, it was reported on Friday.
Reuters said the 48-year-old vice-chairman and heir-apparent of Samsung was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center on Friday morning, after waiting there overnight for the decision.
South Korea's special prosecutor's office accuses Lee of bribing a close friend of President Park Geun-hye – who is currently facing impeachment over the scandal – in order to win favors related to leadership succession at Samsung Group. Lee now faces charges including bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, and perjury. Both Geun-hye and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case.
Prosecutors have up to 10 days to indict Lee, but they can seek an extension. After indictment, a court must then make its first ruling within three months. Currently there's no word on whether lawyers representing Lee will contest the arrest or seek bail.
Shares in Samsung ended Friday down 0.42 percent, in line with a flat wider market. Ratings agencies say they don't expect any impact on the company's credit ratings, claiming Lee's arrest will accelerate improvements in corporate transparency and governance.
Meanwhile, Lee's arrest is not expected to hamper day-to-day operations at Samsung's divisions, which are run by professional managers. That said, the conglomerate is currently going through a restructuring to clear a succession path for Lee to assume control after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014, suggesting strategic decision-making on the issue could be affected.
Lee's detention comes as Samsung tries to resuscitate its Galaxy brand following last year's Note7 debacle, in which the handsets were prone to setting on fire whilst charging. The company is hoping that its Galaxy S8, expected to launch in April, will bring the brand back on course in a crucial year when Apple is expected to announce a "tenth anniversary" iPhone 8, for which Samsung will also provide 160 million OLED display panels.
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Apple is to set to begin ramping up assembly of the iPhone SE at its Bangalore manufacturing plant in India in the coming months, sources said on Friday (via Reuters).
Last month, Apple agreed a deal with the Indian government to commence manufacturing operations in the Karnataka-based facility, with Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron reportedly winning the contract to set up the plant and focus on assembling Apple's phones.
That groundwork now appears to have paid off, with Wistron almost ready to begin assembling the lower-priced iPhone SE model and kick-start Apple's local production in India, home to the world's fastest growing major mobile market.
Recently, Apple has been in talks with the Indian federal government in relation to possible tax concessions if it agreed to manufacture its phones locally. However, industry sources with knowledge of the matter say the initial manufacturing of the iPhone SE is not contingent on any such concessions.
The Economic Times reported on Friday that Apple planned to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India, but an industry source told Reuters the numbers would be substantially lower to begin with. The source also said it's too early to say what other iPhone models would be assembled at the Bengalore plant.
The move comes as Apple looks to offset slowing growth in China by boosting its share of the Indian mobile market, which is currently dominated by handsets far cheaper than iPhones. Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, and other players command the market there, where most phones are sold priced below 15,000 rupees ($225). The iPhone SE goes for $424 on Amazon.com's India site, by comparison.
Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile and Verizon, AT&T today announced plans to debut a new unlimited data plan that's available to all of its postpaid customers. The unlimited plan will be available starting tomorrow.
AT&T previously offered an unlimited data plan, but it was limited to customers who were also DirecTV or U-Verse customers.
According to AT&T, the new plan will provide unlimited talk, text, and data on four lines for $180, which is more expensive than T-Mobile's ONE data plan for four customers and on par with Verizon's pricing, also at $180 for four lines. A single line is priced at $100.
AT&T is including unlimited calls from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico and unlimited texts to more than 120 countries around the world. Customers are also able to talk, text, and use data in Canada and Mexico with no roaming charges.
"We're offering unlimited entertainment on the nation's best data network where and when you want to enjoy more of what you love," said David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer of the AT&T Entertainment Group.
AT&T's $180 price point is after a $40 credit for the fourth smartphone line, which will start after two billing periods. Prior to then, customers will need to pay $220 per month for the plan.
The company's fine print says that AT&T "may slow speeds" during periods of network congestion for customers who consume more than 22GB of data, which is not a surprise as T-Mobile and Verizon's plans contain similar caveats. The unlimited plan also includes the Stream Saver feature, which downgrades video to 480p. Stream Saver is enabled by default, but can be turned off online.
With AT&T now offering an unlimited plan for all of its customers, all of the major carriers in the United States have unlimited data plans available, which is impressive because for the last several years, carriers like AT&T and Verizon have been heavily focused on eliminating their unlimited customers.
Sprint and T-Mobile have offered unlimited data plans since August, and T-Mobile's growing popularity and regular feature additions at an affordable price appears to have inspired AT&T and Verizon to re-adopt unlimited plans.
Verizon announced its unlimited plan earlier this week with inclusions like 10GB of tethering data and HD video streaming, spurring T-Mobile to implement similar changes. With T-Mobile's new tethering offerings and higher-quality video streaming, it continues to offer the best value at $70 per month for a single subscriber (Verizon's plan is $80). Sprint's plan is priced at $55 per month, but its coverage can't compete with T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, and AT&T's plan is the most expensive of the four at $100 for a single line.
Apple's widely expected 5.8-inch iPhone with an edge-to-edge OLED display will feature a front-facing 3D laser scanner for facial recognition, corroborating previous rumors, according to JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall.
Hall said the scanner will replace Touch ID on the so-called iPhone 8, as Apple plans to remove the Home button to allow for the edge-to-edge display. His research note claims the so-called iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus could also have a 3D laser scanner based on increased volume of the module within Apple's supply chain.
The scanner is said to add $10 to $15 per module to the iPhone 8's bill of materials, which coupled with the OLED display, glass casing, and other increased production costs, could make its retail price up to $100 more expensive than it would be without those features, if Apple looks to maintain a similar profit margin.
Hall believes the switch to facial recognition will help alleviate consumer frustration when Touch ID does not work under wet conditions. He added that facial recognition will potentially be more secure than Touch ID, which could increase Apple Pay adoption among banks and merchants.
The research note said the 3D laser scanner could eventually be used for other purposes, such as augmented reality, but likely not until 2018 at the earliest.
One obvious and potentially most compelling use would be AR/VR experiences in which the user’s hands and other real world objects are being scanned and integrated into a field of view provided by the iPhone mounted into a Google Daydream-like headset. This would open up many interesting entertainment and gaming experiences not available today and might give Apple something extra in an AR/VR accessory compared to Google and others.
He also believes that Apple is likely to eventually open up a 3D scanning API to developers, who could use it to do "everything from determining your shoe size for online orders to helping make sure you are properly fitted on your bike."
Hall expects a strong iPhone 8 replacement cycle later this year, and he said an announcement about the product is possible as early as WWDC 2017, which kicks off June 5. Apple has not made any iPhone hardware announcements at WWDC since 2010, so treat this claim with a proverbial grain of salt for now.
Earlier this week, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said while it is "still early to examine hardware support for Apple Pay," he believes the new 5.8-inch iPhone will feature "other biometric technologies that replace the current fingerprint recognition technology," lending credence to Touch ID's removal.
Kuo had previously said that iris or facial recognition could initially complement Touch ID if Apple faced technological barriers, while Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri noted that facial recognition could either replace Touch ID or augment its functionality to create a two-factor verification system.
Apple today shared two new videos on its YouTube channel, again designed to promote the Portrait Mode feature that's unique to the dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus.
Both videos are 15 seconds in length and show the Portrait Mode in action, with an explanation on how it blurs out the background for better portrait shots of people.
Portrait Mode, introduced in iOS 10.1, uses a shallow depth-of-field effect to make portrait photos "pop," mimicking the results that can normally only be obtained with a high-end DSLR and a telephoto lens. Portrait Mode uses the 56mm lens included in the iPhone 7 Plus, with Apple's image signal processor working to scan a scene to recognize people and other objects to separate the foreground from the background for the blurring effect.
Today's ads follow two similar ads that were released earlier this week, also designed to show off Portrait Mode on the iPhone 7 Plus.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai has advocated for the activation of FM radio receivers built into nearly every smartphone, as part of opening remarks he made at the Future of Radio and Audio Symposium in Washington D.C. yesterday.
Many smartphones sold today, including iPhones, have an FM receiver built into the LTE modem that would allow people to listen to FM radio over the air; however, many carriers and phone makers have not enabled the functionality, forcing users to use an app to stream FM radio over Wi-Fi or cellular data.
Pai cited a NAB study that found only 44% of the top-selling smartphones in the United States had activated FM receivers as of last year. The vast majority—94%—of the non-activated smartphones are iPhones, according to the study.
"We could be doing a lot better," said Pai, who was appointed as FCC chairman last month. "It seems odd that every day we hear about a new smartphone app that lets you do something innovative, yet these modern-day mobile miracles don’t enable a key function offered by a 1982 Sony Walkman."
The activation of FM receivers in iPhones would have several benefits, including battery life savings, less data usage, and most importantly, the ability to receive emergency alerts over radio without service.
"You could make a case for activating chips on public safety grounds alone," added Pai. "The former head of our Federal Emergency Management Administration has spoken out in support of this proposal. The FCC has an expert advisory panel on public safety issues that has also advocated enabling FM radio chips on smartphones."
Pai said that while he will keep speaking out about the benefits of activating FM receivers in smartphones, he is a believer in free markets and the rule of law, and he thereby cannot support a government mandate requiring activation of these chips, nor does he believe the FCC has the power to issue said mandate.
In 2015, an online campaign was launched to "free radio" on smartphones. It calls for U.S. carriers to activate the FM radio receivers in smartphones. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile now support the functionality, or will soon, on all or select Android-based smartphones. The campaign extends to Canada.
Apple's stance on the activation of FM receivers in iPhones is uncertain. An additional antenna would likely be required for proper FM signal reception. The latest iPod nano, meanwhile, requires connecting headphones to listen to FM radio, as the device uses the headphone cord as an antenna to receive a signal.
Starting today, Microsoft Office users who own one of Apple's new 2016 MacBook Pro models can update their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint software to gain new Touch Bar integrations.
Touch Bar support for Microsoft Office was first announced at Apple's October keynote event where the updated MacBook Pro with Touch Bar debuted. At that time, Microsoft outlined the Touch Bar's capabilities, highlighting unique capabilities for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
In Microsoft Word, the Touch Bar can be used with Word Focus Mode, which hides all on-screen ribbons and commands to put the focus on your work. The Touch Bar puts "the most relevant Word features" at a user's fingertips, allowing for quick style changes.
In PowerPoint, the Touch Bar makes it easier to manipulate graphic elements. A Reorder Objects button creates a graphical map of all the layers, so users can quickly find an object and move its position. There are also special controls that are available in Slideshow View.
With Excel, the Touch Bar displays the most recently used functions when the equals sign is typed into a cell, so it's quicker to do things like sum a range of numbers. The Touch Bar also provides access to borders, cell colors, and recommended charts.
Microsoft has also added new capabilities to the Touch Bar during its testing period. The Touch Bar can also be used to insert comments, photos, and hyperlinks into Word, it includes view-specific controls in PowerPoint, and there's an object rotation slider for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Last week, Microsoft previewed Touch Bar support, providing it to its "Office Insider" beta testers, but now the service is ready to roll out to all Office users.
Touch Bar support is currently only available for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but Microsoft also plans expand it to Outlook and Skype for Business in the near future.
Verizon has the fastest LTE network in western regions of the United States, while its up-and-coming rival T-Mobile has the top speeds throughout the east coast, according to a recent study by OpenSignal, which crowdsourced signal data from nearly 170,000 smartphone users who downloaded the OpenSignal app.
OpenSignal divided the United States into five regions—the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and West—and found that Verizon had the fastest LTE speeds in the West and Midwest, while T-Mobile was tops in the Northeast and Southeast. Verizon and T-Mobile had a statistical tie in the Southwest.
Verizon had an average download speed of 20 Mbps in the Midwest, for example, compared to 18.4 Mbps for T-Mobile. Meanwhile, in the Northeast, T-Mobile's average download speed was 18.6 Mbps versus 17 Mbps for Verizon. OpenSignal's testing was completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
LTE speeds among all "Big Four" carriers in the United States, namely AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, were fastest in the Midwest overall, while lowest in the Southwest, said OpenSignal.
The geographical breakdown is a follow-up to OpenSignal's latest State of Mobile Networks report published last week. The original report, which included a city-by-city breakdown, found Verizon had the faster network in a number of major cities, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
Another rumor of Apple's interest in acquiring a company involved in film and television has come to light today, with Financial Times reporting that the Cupertino company was in talks to acquire production company Imagine Entertainment, co-founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. The deal is said to have gotten "serious enough" to include Apple CEO Tim Cook and senior vice president Eddy Cue, but discussions ultimately "fizzled out" for unknown reasons.
Those knowledgable about the deal said that possibilities ranged from a "first look" distribution strategy granted to Apple for movies and television shows released by Imagine all the way to an investment or even an outright purchase by Apple. Imagine is a company behind a number of well-known films, including all three entries in The Da Vinci Code series, Apollo 13, and the upcoming adaptation of The Dark Tower. Some of its production in the TV space includes shows like Empire, 24, and Parenthood.
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment
According to Financial Times, Apple's current approach to original video content "has many in Hollywood scratching their heads."
This approach has many in Hollywood scratching their heads. Apple’s rounds of meetings with various entertainment industry players suggest it has not yet decided what its strategy should be.
The iPhone maker has been stalking Hollywood for more than a year, talking to leading industry players while it tries to formulate a cogent video strategy. It has considered a range of acquisitions and targets including, most recently, Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, according to several people briefed on the discussions.
Imagine is said to have recently faced the end of a long-term production and distribution deal with Universal Pictures, which is when Apple is believed to have considered entering into a first look deal with the company. The new Imagine rumor marks another bump in the road for Apple's trip around Hollywood, following reports that the company considered buying Time Warner last year. Later in the year, people familiar with Apple's acquisition strategy said it was "not interested" in acquiring Time Warner at the time.
Today's news follows a Bloomberg report from yesterday that underscored Apple's "arrogance" in mergers and acquisitions, where it's reported to use shrewd business tactics and non-traditional strategies in its attempts to acquire new companies. These tactics work mostly for Apple's smaller acquisitions, according to some analysts, but impede its success at acquiring larger companies, although it is unclear how seriously Apple has pursued any such large targets.
Update 12:50 PM: Imagine co-chairman Michael Rosenberg tells Variety, "The story is not accurate and Imagine has no further comment."
Apple has been awarded the number one spot on Fortune's annual list of the "World's Most Admired Companies." The 2017 list marks Apple's tenth consecutive win as the most admired company in the world according to Fortune, which collected the data from 3,800 executives, analysts, directors, and industry experts to end up with the final ranking.
After Apple, the top five slots are rounded out by Amazon, Starbucks, Berkshire Hathaway, and Disney. Last year, Alphabet ranked in second place but the company has fallen down to sixth in 2017. One of Apple's direct rivals in the hardware and software space, Microsoft, has been placed in the ninth spot in a tie with Facebook.
Fortune ranks companies through a collection of "key attributes of reputation," including areas like innovation, people management, social responsibility, and quality of products/services. This year, however, Apple's industry rank wasn't reported "due to an insufficient response rate in the computer industry."
Like in previous iterations, Fortune started the list by looking at a collection of the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with 500 non-U.S. companies with revenue of $10 billion or more. The list was then further whittled down to 680 companies in 28 countries, and Fortune survey collaborator Korn Ferry Hay Group began asking the 3,800 experts to rank companies on the nine criteria.
Apple today announced that WWDC 2017 will run Monday, June 5 through Friday, June 9 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.
WWDC is returning to San Jose for the first time since 2002. The conference had been held in San Francisco since 2003. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller told The Loop that downtown San Jose is closer to Apple's headquarters in nearby Cupertino and will provide a "great environment for developers."
Schiller said that downtown San Jose is going to provide a great environment for developers attending the conference. Of course, San Jose has the added benefit of being close to Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, which should make logistics much easier for the company, especially when it comes to getting engineers on site.
Schiller said he expects WWDC 2017 to be about the same size as previous conferences—about 5,000 developers and 1,000 engineers. But given the venue's closer proximity to Cupertino, more Apple engineers will be able to attend since they will not need to take an entire day or week off to commute to San Francisco.
The McEnery Convention Center will be the hub for thousands of attendees with great hotel, restaurant and entertainment options, all within walking distance. In addition to the keynote address, get-togethers, sessions and labs for developers, Apple is working with the city of San Jose and local businesses to celebrate the return of WWDC with very special experiences around San Jose throughout the week.
San Jose should be a more affordable location for attendees as well, while an early February announcement allows for cheaper airfare.
Tickets will be offered by random selection for $1,599. Ticket lottery registration opens Monday, March 27 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Those that plan on registering must be a member of the Apple Developer Program or Apple Developer Enterprise Program as of February 16 at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
WWDC, or the Worldwide Developers Conference, is where Apple unveils the latest versions of its software platforms, which this year is likely to include iOS 11, macOS 10.13, and new versions of tvOS and watchOS. The opening keynote has sometimes included other big announcements, such as new Macs and iCloud.
"Technology alone is not enough," said Apple. "Technology must intersect with the liberal arts and the humanities, to create new ideas and experiences that push society forward. This summer we bring together thousands of brilliant minds representing many diverse perspectives, passions, and talents to help us change the world."
Apple said the conference will be live-streamed on its WWDC 2017 website and through the WWDC app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
Apple is currently testing a new, fifth-generation Apple TV capable of streaming Ultra HD 4K video, according to a report released on Thursday.
The new Apple TV is internally codenamed "J105" and is able to output content in more vivid colors, according to Bloomberg. The fifth-gen device may release as soon as this year, with Apple's recent hiring of former Amazon Fire TV unit chief Timothy D. Twerdhal said to indicate a renewed focus on the set-top box.
Twerdhal's arrival comes as the company tests a new, fifth-generation Apple TV that it may release as soon as this year. Internally codenamed "J105," the new box will be capable of streaming ultra-high-definition 4K and more vivid colors, according to people familiar with the plans.
Details on Apple's intentions for its set-top box have been scant in recent months, with the last rumor that it was readying a new model appearing as far back as December 2015. Today's new disclosure appears as part of an investigation into Apple's apparent inability to keep pace with rivals like Amazon and Roku in the TV streaming market. According to Bloomberg's sources, Apple engineers have been forced to compromise "time and again" on Steve Jobs' original vision of revolutionizing the living room.
Originally, the Apple TV was meant to replace the ungainly set-top boxes supplied by cable companies and allow owners to stream live television, but Apple's failure to secure deals with the major cable channels left Cupertino unable to push ahead with its TV plans. According to the report, that left the Apple TV team debating other options, such as including a game controller with the fourth-gen model to better compete with Microsoft's Xbox and the Sony PlayStation, but that ultimately fell through because of cost concerns.
Apple also reportedly passed on including a more expensive 4K-capable chip in the fourth-gen Apple TV because it would be forced to accept lower margins. This left the set-top box more akin to a "giant iPhone", consisting of a cluster of apps and an App Store.
"That's not what I signed up for," says one of the people, who requested anonymity to talk freely about internal company matters. "I signed up for revolutionary. We got evolutionary."
Apple has never revealed how many Apple TVs it has sold, although Apple CFO Luca Maestri recently admitted that sales had decreased year-over-year during the 2016 holiday period, while market research suggests the fourth-generation Apple TV has been losing market share to cheaper Amazon and Roku boxes since its launch in the fall of 2015.
Steve Jobs' ambitions in the TV space have become almost legendary since his passing, but little has been achieved by Apple to realize his vision, which originally included an Apple-branded television set. Jobs previewed the first Apple TV in 2006, when the device was only able to stream iTunes video from a Mac to a TV. When he stepped down from his position as Apple CEO on August 24, 2011 due to illness, he intended to work on an Apple television that would re-invent living room entertainment.
After Jobs' death, Apple tried to gain a stronger foothold in this regard, but the company failed to secure the cable channel deals that would allow it to create the full integrated television programming experience and TV set that Jobs envisioned, and since that time it has relied on the fourth-generation Apple TV, with App Store and Siri integration, as a makeweight solution.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly asserted in the past that "the future of TV is apps", but such a vision is difficult to realize in the context of a fully unified user experience. Apple TV users still have to buy individual TV episodes via the iTunes Store, pay extra for services such as Hulu, and download apps linked to specific channels, after which they must log in with their existing cable subscriptions.
According to the Bloomberg report, by all accounts, Apple's efforts to position the Apple TV as a streaming and distribution platform for other content providers have failed. Whether or not a 4K-capable device can bring about a resurgence in its ambitions for the living room remains to be seen.
Facebook has announced that businesses in the United States and Canada will soon be able to post job listings on their pages, and potential hires will be able to easily browse local openings through a new "Jobs" bookmark. The update is rolling out over the next few weeks for both the Facebook iOS and Android apps, and on the web.
The company said that the update is aimed at small business owners who may find it more difficult than expected to hire talent for specific positions. After a job is posted, employers can review applicants, contact them on Facebook Messenger, and set up an interview date for the best candidates. The update has already begun as a small test in parts of the U.S.
We’ve tested the new jobs experience in parts of the US, and while it’s still early, businesses are already filling roles. “It was great because it was easy,” says Wendy Grahn, co-owner of the Chicago-based Lakeview Kitchen and Market. “It took three minutes to fill out the information and put it out there. Then someone saw the post, we talked, and it was done.”
On the applicant side of things, job posts will be visible in their News Feed, in the Jobs bookmark tab, and included along with other posts on the business' regular Facebook page. Clicking "Apply Now" pre-fills information accumulated from the user's Facebook page, and applicants can review and edit it to their liking before hitting submit.
Facebook recently announced that it is building a video-focused app for the Apple TV that will allow users to watch the "same kinds of videos" as found on the Facebook app, but on a larger screen. The app will recommend videos for users to watch, but they will also be able to save videos to watch on mobile and then view them later on Apple TV. An official date for the app's launch hasn't been set, but the company said it's coming "soon."
Cases of cracked iPhone screens are certainly nothing new, and occur often enough to have earned a separate service fee in Apple's AppleCare+ program. According to one study, half of mobile users globally have experienced at least one cracked smartphone screen in their lifetime, and at least 21 percent of smartphone owners currently have a cracked screen.
Presumably with this in mind, Apple is currently exploring technology that can detect when an iPhone screen has suffered damage and alert the user early, even if the break is a hairline crack, which may allow the company to come up with better design solutions in the future.
The system appears in a patent published on Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, called "Coverglass fracture detection", which describes an integrated network of sensors and software that can detect the formation of cracks in a protective display cover.
In one example, the invention detects breaches in the touch sensor substrate embedded in the device display. In another, piezoelectric actuators send out vibrations and detect defects by analyzing the response. In yet another instance, strategically positioned emitters shoot out pulses of light through a series of prisms, to eventually reach sensors located on the other end of the display. Measurements then detect anomalies in the travel of light in order to identify micro-fissures in the screen.
The invention is described as being capable of distinguishing between hairline cracks and spiderweb cracks, and even capable of measuring fracture depth, length, width, and expansion rate, with proximity and orientation sensors also recruited into the system to detect falls. User notifications can include pinpointing the area of damage to the screen, as well as alerts about ancillary damage to internal components caused by the impact.
In some embodiments, the user is asked to confirm the location of cracks onscreen by circling the area with their finger. The diagnostic information is then corralled to generate a timeline of events leading up to the crack, which may be useful during repair work. The ensuing data may also be used by Apple to understand how and when cracks most commonly occur, allowing designers to create displays more resistant to breaks.
Yahoo has issued a new warning to account holders about malicious hacks linked to a third data breach that the company disclosed late last year.
The warning relates to more recent malicious activity targeting accounts between 2015 and 2016, most likely perpetrated by a "state actor", according to Yahoo. Specifically, the hacks are said to have been achieved by using "forged" cookies – the text-based keys that give web users access to username and password information without having to re-enter it – created by software stolen from within Yahoo's internal systems.
A message was sent to affected Yahoo users on Wednesday, warning them of the unauthorized access to their account, but Yahoo did not reveal how many people were notified.
Yahoo's announcement came just hours after reports that Verizon was close to a renegotiated deal to buy Yahoo's core assets at a lower price. Last year, Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo’s core business for $4.83 billion, but on Wednesday Bloomberg reported that the renegotiated deal would slash about $250 million off that price because of the security breaches that were revealed after the initial deal was agreed.
"As we have previously disclosed, our outside forensic experts have been investigating the creation of forged cookies that could have enabled an intruder to access our users' accounts without a password," a Yahoo spokesperson told Associated Press. "The investigation has identified user accounts for which we believe forged cookies were taken or used. Yahoo is in the process of notifying all potentially affected account holders. Yahoo has invalidated the forged cookies so they cannot be used again."
Back in September, Yahoo revealed that hackers had stolen the personal data of "at least" 500 million users, but by December, the internet company admitted that over one billion Yahoo user accounts had been compromised in a separate hack dating back to August 2013. Information stolen included names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, security questions and answers.
The internet company is currently under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission over its failure to disclose its massive data breaches sooner.
Ticketmaster today updated its iOS app with Apple Music integration, allowing users to easily track upcoming concerts they might be interested in. The update makes Ticketmaster one of the few apps to take advantage of the Apple Music API.
Once the update is downloaded, users can allow the app to scan their Apple Music library for their favorite artists. Users will then receive ticket alerts when those artists announce new concerts. If users enable notifications and location services, the app can also notify a user when and where they can watch an artist perform.
Apple introduced the Apple Music API with iOS 9.3, and soon began promoting the API in April 2016. Two of the most well known apps to take advantage of the API are Nike and Shazam. Nike's Run Club app allows users to import Apple Music playlists while Shazam allows users to add identified songs to their library. Unlike Nike and Shazam's apps, which is focused on directly impacting someone's music library, the primary goal of Ticketmaster's utilization is to use Apple Music user data to improve its app experience.
The upcoming 2017 iPhone will feature a 5.8-inch display with 5.15 inches of usable screen space according to new predictions shared by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo believes the iPhone 8 will use a 5.8-inch OLED display panel, but that some space will be reserved for virtual buttons.
As has been rumored, the display is said to take up the entire front panel of the iPhone, effectively eliminating bezels, which means Apple will eliminate both the current Home button and the current Touch ID fingerprint recognition technology used in iPhones.
Size wise, Kuo says the OLED iPhone will have measurements similar to the 4.7-inch iPhone, allowing for one-handed operation. Such a size is possible with a 5.8-inch panel because there will be no extra space outside of the display, as can be seen in the mockup below. It will feature a display similar in size to the 5.5-inch iPhone, but in a 4.7-inch package.
Alongside the 5.8-inch OLED iPhone, Kuo continues to believe Apple will also offer standard 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch LCD iPhones, but it is not yet clear what features those devices will adopt. In previous research notes, Kuo has said they will include glass bodies and wireless charging, but he has not gone into detail on other potential features. He does, however, say that the OLED iPhone will be "the only bright spot" in the 2017 iPhone lineup, suggesting only minor improvements for the other two rumored devices.
Because the OLED iPhone will eliminate the Home button, it is expected to adopt "other biometric technologies," which other rumors suggest could include things like iris or facial recognition.
Battery life may also be another major change in the OLED iPhone, with Apple expected to introduce a stacked logic board design to support bigger batteries and longer battery life. In today's report, Kuo says the iPhone 8, though similar in size to the 4.7-inch iPhone 7, will feature a battery capacity similar to the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
With the radical design changes, battery improvements, and the new biometric features, Kuo expects the OLED iPhone to cost in excess of $1,000, a pricing rumor that was also shared by Fast Company last week. Kuo does not expect the high price point to significantly impact sales due the "innovative user experience" offered by the device.
He believes Apple will ship 100 million iPhones during the second half of 2017, with 60 percent of those to consist of the higher-end OLED iPhone.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Microsoft updated its OneDrive iOS app this week with a couple of features requested by premium users, with the added bonus that the improvements can be used by free 5GB account holders as well.
