MacRumors

Earlier this year, Apple and IBM announced a major enterprise mobility partnership that would see IBM selling iOS devices to its corporate customers, creating industry-specific native apps, providing iOS-optimized cloud services, and providing support for a new AppleCare service.

IBM and Apple are now moving forward with their partnership, and Apple has recently launched a new AppleCare for Enterprise website, suggesting that its promised enterprise-grade AppleCare plan is now available for IBM's enterprise customers.

As detailed on the website, all AppleCare for Enterprise accounts are handled by an AppleCare Account Manager, providing a personal liaison with AppleCare. Apple promises a one-hour response time for all urgent issues, with IT department-level support available 24/7 via phone or email. All AppleCare for Enterprise customers can also replace 10 percent of damaged iOS devices, giving businesses an easy way to replace iPads or iPhones that have been accidentally damaged by employees.

As promised during the announcement of its IBM partnership, Apple is offering an onsite hardware repair service for AppleCare for Enterprise customers. While Apple is handling all email and phone requests, IBM Global Technology Services will provide onsite repairs.

You have the option to get onsite service coverage for two or three years from the date of your hardware purchase. If you have a hardware issue during that time, AppleCare for Enterprise will help get you back up and running quickly. IBM's Global Technology Services, a worldwide Apple Authorized Service Provider, will provide onsite service within the next business day.

The new AppleCare for Enterprise site comes just ahead of IBM's first dedicated enterprise-focused iOS apps. During Apple's recent earnings call, Tim Cook said that next month, IBM will introduce apps across six sectors: banking, government, insurance, retail, travel, and transportation and telecommunications.

Pricing on the Enterprise plans is unknown, but enterprise customers interested in finding out more about Apple's AppleCare for Enterprise plans are encouraged to contact their Apple or IBM Account Executives.

(Thanks, Craig!)

Researchers from Palo Alto Networks (via The New York Times) have published a research paper on WireLurker, a malware new family that's been infecting both Mac OS and iOS systems over the course of the past six months. The researchers say that WireLurker, which is targeting users in China, "heralds a new era in malware attacking Apple's desktop and mobile platforms."

The WireLurker malware is the "biggest in scale" in the trojanized malware family, and it is able to attack iOS devices through OS X using USB. It's said to be able to infect iOS applications similar to a traditional virus, and it is the first malware capable of installing third-party applications on non-jailbroken iOS devices "through enterprise provisioning."

Thus far, WireLurker has been used in 467 OS X apps in the Maiyadi App Store, which is a third-party Mac app store in China. The apps have been downloaded 356,104 times, infecting hundreds of thousands of users.

According to the researchers, WireLurker looks for iOS devices connected via USB to an infected Mac, installing malicious third-party applications onto the device even without a jailbreak.

WireLurker monitors any iOS device connected via USB with an infected OS X computer and installs downloaded third-party applications or automatically generated malicious applications onto the device, regardless of whether it is jailbroken. This is the reason we call it "wire lurker". Researchers have demonstrated similar methods to attack non-jailbroken devices before; however, this malware combines a number of techniques to successfully realize a new brand of threat to all iOS devices.

WireLurker exhibits complex code structure, multiple component versions, file hiding, code obfuscation and customized encryption to thwart anti-reversing. In this whitepaper, we explain how WireLurker is delivered, the details of its malware progression, and specifics on its operation.

Once installed, WireLurker can collect information from iOS devices like contacts and iMessages, and it's able to request updates from attackers. It's said to be under "active development" with an unclear "ultimate goal."

Palo Alto Neworks offers several recommendations for avoiding apps infected with WireLurker, including an antivirus product and Mac App Store installation restrictions that prevent apps from unknown third parties from being installed. Users should not download and run Mac apps or games from third-parry app stores, download sites, or other untrusted sources and jailbreaking should be avoided.

Unknown enterprise provisioning profiles must be avoided as well, and users should avoid pairing their iOS devices with unknown computers or charging with chargers from untrusted or unknown sources.

Palo Alto Networks has notified Apple of the malware, but an Apple spokesperson declined to offer a comment.

Update: Apple has issued a statement to iMore about the issue:

"We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China," an Apple spokesperson told iMore, "and we've blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching. As always, we recommend that users download and install software from trusted sources."

Apple Pay competitor Merchant Customer Exchange or MCX, which is a group of retailers working on a QR-code based payment system called "CurrentC," has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after two prominent MCX members, Rite Aid and CVS, opted to remove Apple Pay support from their retail stores.

After a glut of negative press and a hacking incident, MCX executives have been scrambling to defend CurrentC, hosting a press conference and doing several interviews.

The latest information on MCX and CurrentC comes courtesy of The Verge, in an interview conducted with MCX CEO Dekkers Davidson.

According to Davidson, when it comes to security, CurrentC uses the same tokenization system Apple Pay is based on, replacing card numbers with random numbers. He also says that if customers want to be "totally anonymous" to retailers, "they'll get that."

We think Apple Pay, which has also embraced the concept of low value tokens as we did three years ago, we're probably in simpatico on that one. I pull out my phone, I hold up my phone with a QR code that says "I am a customer at lane 6", and now we're each sent a token and a message to the cloud that says "I am the seller" and "I am the buyer and I want to pay for this transaction with the payment instrument that I've selected in my phone." There's no piece of paper to sign, there's no print out, there's no signature to hand back. There are never credentials in my device at the point of sale, it all occurs in a secure server. So like with Apple, if anyone were to intercept the low value tokens there's nothing they could do with that.

One of the major draws of CurrentC that MCX executives have highlighted time and time again is its ability to incorporate loyalty cards and discounts, suggesting consumers want more than just a payment method. Davidson pointed out that the average American household is signed up for 18 loyalty programs but only uses a handful, with CurrentC making it "rewarding" and "hassle free" for customers to take advantage of loyalty programs. The CurrentC app offers automatic credits, points, and coupons, which are redeemed with each transaction.

This puts all the power in the hand of the consumer to make it simple, to make it rewarding and to make it hassle free. So for us, it's a lot more than about payments. Paying by mobile is a flat value proposition, it'll be cool for a while, but we hear from our merchants and they hear from their consumers that they want something that brings it all together, that's what we're doing.

On the subject of QR codes, Davidson says that CurrentC is "quite forgiving." Customers will not need to hold their phones "at a certain angle with certain light," and it's "designed to read a QR code pretty quickly." Davidson pointed towards Starbucks as a QR code success story, and said Starbucks is an "inspiration."

Davidson also commented on MCX's exclusivity agreements that have prompted stores like CVS and Rite Aid to stop accepting Apple Pay, while MCX member Meijer has continued to offer Apple's payment solution. "They have to make the decision that's best for their business," he said, but he went on to say that defying MCX's exclusivity agreements does have "consequences." Merchants who do not keep agreements will not see MCX "put a lot of energy in helping get [them] launched in the near term."

Davidson's full interview, which also includes details on why he thinks customers will use CurrentC, more of his thoughts on QR codes, and more information on the recent hacking attempt that saw customer email addresses compromised can be found over at The Verge.

Apple is encouraging customers that have opted to stick with older versions of iOS to upgrade to its latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, released to the public in September.

The company has been sending out emails to iOS users who have yet to install iOS 8, letting them know that their "iOS 8 update is waiting." The email offers information on what's included with iOS 8, detailing features like QuickType, the new Health app, Family Sharing, iCloud Drive, and Continuity.

It also gives specific installation instructions, letting users know that they can upgrade wirelessly using the Software Update tool or through iTunes if their devices are low on space. Apple's iTunes installation tip could spur quite a few users to upgrade, as a lack of free space on low capacity devices appears to be one of the major factors preventing users from updating.

iOS 8 adoption has been somewhat slower than iOS 7 adoption, and just three weeks after it was released, iOS 8 installation numbers had stagnated. While we originally chalked this up to a number of significant bugs in the operating system, our readers quickly pointed out that an over-the-air update requiring 5GB of free space was a major hurdle to overcome. Many users seem to be unaware that installing via iTunes is an option, as evidenced in one comment on our forums:

I have friends who are still on iOS 7 because they don't have enough free space available to upgrade. When I tell them they can upgrade by connecting their phones to their computers, and thus, doing it through iTunes, they look at me like I'm crazy, or like it's 2008 or something.

Over the course of the last week, iOS 8 adoption numbers have picked up somewhat, after Apple introduced new features like Apple Pay with the recent iOS 8.1 update. As of October 27, Apple's official installation numbers suggested the OS was on 52 percent of devices, up from 48 percent on October 13, and data from MixPanel suggests that number has risen even higher in November, hitting 59 percent.

(Thanks, Jaime!)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF, a non-profit digital rights group, has investigated the security of various messaging apps and created a new Secure Messaging Scorecard, ranking messaging apps and tools like iMessage, FaceTime, BlackBerry Messenger, Skype, Snapchat, and more, based on seven different factors:

- Is a message encrypted in transit?
- Is it encrypted so the provider is unable to read it?
- Can you verify contacts' identities?
- Are past communications secure if keys are stolen?
- Is the code open to independent review?
- Is security design properly documented?
- Has the code been audited?

Unsurprisingly, the apps that score highest on the EFF's chart are those dedicated to secure messaging, such as iPhone apps ChatSecure, Signal, and CryptoCat, both of which scored checkmarks in all categories.

Apple's iMessage scored five out of seven checkmarks, earning points for encrypting messages in transit and encryption that's unreadable by Apple, but the messaging app was faulted for an inability to verify contact identities and the fact that Apple's code is not open to independent review.

FaceTime was scored in the same way as iMessage, also offering encryption but no contact verification/independent review capabilities. Outside of dedicated secure chat messaging apps, both FaceTime and iMessage scored higher than competing messaging platforms like Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Snapchat, Kik, Google Hangouts, and BlackBerry Messenger.

Few of the competing messaging services offer encryption that prevents the companies offering the services from accessing messages, though all encrypted messages in transit. Most iMessage/FaceTime competitors also fail to secure past communications if keys are stolen, and few had properly documented security design. QQ, a highly popular Chinese messaging app, failed at providing any of the qualities the EFF was looking for in a secure messaging app, not even bothering to encrypt messages.

According to the EFF, Apple's iMessage and FaceTime products were the "best of the mass-market options," which is not much of a surprise given Apple's unparalleled focus on user privacy. Apple has a comprehensive privacy site that details all of its privacy policies and the security of various apps and services, including iMessage and FaceTime.

On the site, Apple specifically says iMessage and FaceTime calls "are your business, not ours." The company offers end-to-end encryption and Apple has no way to decrypt it. "Unlike other companies' messaging services, Apple doesn't scan your communications and we wouldn't be able to comply with a wiretap order even if we wanted to," reads the site.

Earlier this year, Intel demonstrated an impressive wireless cable computer system made possible with Skylake, Intel's next-generation chip technology (after Broadwell). At a recent venture capital event, the company showed off even more of its upcoming technology, including a face-recognition 3D camera system that aims to do away with passwords and allow for new methods of computer control.

As detailed by The Wall Street Journal, Intel's "YAP" concept (which stands for "you are the password"), is designed to recognize a user's voice, face, or fingerprint, to allow biometric access to a device. Kirk Skaugen, in charge of Intel's PC chip business, believes that such technology could be coming to computers as early as next year.

Intel's betting big on camera technology able to scan and create 3D models and will create a new 3D camera business. "We are planning to be the number one 3D camera manufacturer," said Skaugen.

Apple itself may be working on similar technology, as in 2013 it acquired PrimeSense, a company that specialized in 3D sensing and scanning techniques. Apple has not yet produced a product taking advantage of PrimeSense technology, but rumors have suggested its gesture-tracking features could be built into the Apple TV.

Just today a rumor coming out of the Asian supply chain suggested Apple's working on a glasses-free 3D display for next year's iPhone, which would go hand in hand with 3D camera technology possibly being developed by former PrimeSense employees.

During the event, Skaugen also commented on the production of Intel's next-generation Broadwell chips, which is said to be ramping up to millions of units. Ultra low power Core M chips are already available, and Intel is prepping to release its main Broadwell chips in 2015.

Taiwanese media website Economic Daily News [Google Translate] (via GforGames) is reporting that Apple may be gearing up to introduce a glasses-free 3D display on next year's iPhone. The site also reports that Apple is aiming to create a 3D "hardware and software ecosystem."

Economic Daily News also mentions that this "naked eye 3D screen" could not be built using the current embedded touch technology Apple has used since the launch of the iPhone 5. The site claims Apple would once again seek the help of touch screen manufacturer TPK to assist in the development of the next generation of iPhone.

This all comes on the heels of the Taiwanese site claiming Apple has plans to discontinue the iPad mini in favor of the upcoming release of the still-rumored iPad Pro. Though the validity of that rumor is still in question, Economic Daily News has had some hits (regarding Apple Watch sizes and release dates) and misses (claiming the iPhone 6 Plus would ditch the "iPhone" brand), making it difficult to assess the latest claim's reliability.

Though the story is still firmly speculative, Apple has shown interest in 3D devices for many years now. The company applied for a patent regarding glasses-free 3D stereoscopic displays over six years ago. The proposed system was intended to solve issues found in previous incarnations of the technology, allowing tracking of the user to ensure proper 3D rendering no matter the location.

Apple later applied for a patent regarding 3D "Hyper Reality" displays that proposed to change the perspective of objects on a screen in relation to the movement of the user's head, combining software and hardware to achieve the effect. The 3D technology that Apple has employed, of course, is the parallax feature that gives depth and 3D effects to iOS as the device is moved.

More comprehensive implementations of 3D display technology such as that rumored for the next iPhone have seen a limited amount of interest from smartphone manufacturers, but none have so far seen significant success. Given apparent tepid consumer interest in the technology and a lack of other recent rumors regarding any plans by Apple to pursue it, today's claims should be considered questionable for the time being.

Increased consumer interest in NFC mobile payments related to Apple's recent launch of its Apple Pay mobile payment service appears to be having benefits for other services as well, reports Ars Technica. A major beneficiary of this new consumer awareness of mobile transactions is Google Wallet, which reportedly has seen a marked increase in usage over the past few months.

NFC-based mobile payments have had a boost in recent months, possibly thanks to the launch of Apple Pay, which was announced in September. Now, a person with knowledge of the matter tells Ars that Google Wallet, which launched back in 2011 and saw tepid success in the ensuing three years, has had considerable growth in the last couple of months. According to our source, weekly transactions have increased by 50 percent, and in the recent couple of months, new users have nearly doubled compared to the previous month.

Apple launched its mobile payment service in October with the support of major retailers and credit card companies. The service logged over 1 million card activations in the first three days of usage with overall positive reviews.

The Apple Pay launch was not without controversy with both CVS and Rite Aid suspending their mobile payments shortly after the service made its official debut, moves that affected not only Apple Pay but all NFC-based payment services including Google Wallet.

The two pharmacy chains, along with a number of other major retailers, are developing a competing service, CurrentC, which as currently implemented uses QR codes and an app to process transactions. The shutting down of NFC at these retailers has even resulted in an alliance between Android and iOS users on Reddit to boycott retailers involved in the CurrentC effort.

French Apple website iGen.fr is reporting [Google Translate] that pricing for the stainless steel Apple Watch may start at $500, while the gold Apple Watches' pricing could start between $4,000 and $5,000. iGen.fr has been reliable in the past, most recently reporting the dimensions of both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

While Apple had announced that the Apple Watch would start at $350, which was widely assumed to be the price of the aluminum model, and estimates pegged the price of the gold Apple Watch at prices as low as $1,000 or as high as $5,000, there has been little information regarding the pricing of the stainless steel option.

The site's sources also indicate that Apple still aims to release the Apple Watch by Valentine's Day 2015, which somewhat echoes an earlier report that said the company would be "lucky" to release the device by that timeframe. iGen.fr also mentions that manufacturers and resellers are preparing as if the Watch would release in mid-February 2015. Previously, Apple Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores Angela Ahrendts said the Watch would release in Spring 2015.

Following yesterday's news that Christian Bale had opted to pull out of Sony's upcoming Steve Jobs biopic penned by Aaron Sorkin, Variety has shared news that Michael Fassbender is now in talks to take on the role of Steve Jobs.

According to the site, Fassbender is in "early talks" with director Danny Boyle and Sony executives about possibly starring in the film. Fassbender, while less well known than Christian Bale and previous Jobs candidate Leonardo DiCaprio, has been in several high profile movies including Inglourious Basterds, Prometheus, 12 Years a Slave, and The Counselor. He's perhaps most widely known for his role as Magneto in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Aaron Sorkin's upcoming Steve Jobs biopic focuses on three continuous 30-minute scenes that depict three of Jobs' product launches including the debut of the Mac, the introduction of the NeXT Computer, and the release of the iPod.

While it is unclear who will take on the role of Steve Jobs, Seth Rogen is reportedly in talks to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Jessica Chastain, from The Help, is also being considered for an unspecified role in the film.

Law firm Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe, specializing in class action lawsuits, has announced that it has launched an antitrust investigation into CVS and Rite Aid over their decision to stop accepting Apple Pay in their retail stores.

The firm says that it is looking into a potential class action lawsuit that would aim to restore Apple Pay at CVS and Rite Aid stores, and it is currently asking to speak with consumers who may have been affected by the stores' decision to stop offering the payment method.

In light of this situation, Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe is investigating whether CVS and Rite Aid violated the antitrust laws by banding together with other MCX members in a decision to boycott other payments systems, including Apple Pay. Consumers with phones that support Apple Pay may be able to participate in a class action to restore the service at CVS and Rite Aid retail stores.

Both Rite Aid and CVS stopped accepting Apple Pay just over a week ago, disabling the NFC capabilities of their payment terminals to prevent it from being used. Rite Aid and CVS are both members of the Merchant Customer Exchange or MCX, a consortium of retailers developing their own barcode-based payment system called CurrentC.

MCX has confirmed that all of its retail members, including CVS and Rite Aid, are subject to exclusivity agreements that prevent them from accepting alternate forms of payment, but all MCX members are free to leave the group at any time. Merchants may be reluctant to do so, however, as many have likely invested significant resources into the creation of CurrentC.

MCX executives have said that the exclusivity agreements are "closer to months than years" and have been put in place to offer "breathing room" for the development of CurrentC. The Apple Pay competitor is currently being tested in a limited number of markets, with a release planned for next year.

The Unicode Consortium has released a technical report (via Emojipedia) detailing a new method for handling the representation of multi-ethnic groups in emoji. Previous guidelines have stated that emoji people be "as neutral as possible regarding race, ethnicity, and gender". Unless the emoji calls out specific gender or racial cues, then a "generic (inhuman) appearance, such as a yellow/orange color or a silhouette" should be used in its place.

A forthcoming update, Unicode 8.0, plans to change all of that. It proposes to introduce a skin-tone modifier which could be added to certain emoji, allowing users to send any emotion using any skin tone. Plans even reach as far as to allow emoji couples to feature individually different skin tones. Planned for release in the middle of next year, Unicode 8.0's skin tone and racial diversity proposals are only proposed drafts at the current stage.

"Tim forwarded your email to me. We agree with you. Our emoji characters are based on the Unicode standard, which is necessary for them to be displayed properly across many platforms. There needs to be more diversity in the emoji character set, and we have been working closely with the Unicode Consortium in an effort to update the standard."

The most recent major change to emoji on Apple platforms was for iOS 6, when the company expanded native support beyond Japan and made the feature accessible to all users without the use of a third-party app.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Microsoft and Dropbox today announced a partnership that will bring Dropbox support to Microsoft's suite of Office mobile apps. Microsoft will add this new Dropbox feature in upcoming versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the iPhone and iPad.

The new Dropbox integration would allow Office users to open, edit and share files that are stored in Dropbox. After adding a Dropbox account to an Office app, users will be able browse their Dropbox contents, which appear alongside OneDrive and locally stored files. All mobile edits will be synced to Dropbox automatically with a sharing option available within the Office app.

Over the coming weeks, we’re updating Office apps so that they work with Dropbox, too. With the next updates to Word, Excel and PowerPoint on iPhone, iPad and Android Phone you’ll be able to connect to your Dropbox account, so you can access, edit and share your Dropbox files right from your Office apps. Once you’ve added your Dropbox account to Word, Excel or PowerPoint, you can navigate folders and files on Dropbox for viewing and editing in the native Office apps. And accessing Word, PowerPoint and Excel from your Dropbox app is just as easy. Navigate to the file you want, and the Dropbox app will open the Office app you need.

This collaborative effort is only in the beginning stages, with plans to expand Dropbox integration to other Microsoft products over time. After updating its mobile apps in the coming weeks, Microsoft is planning to add Dropbox support to its Office online web apps early next year.

A number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners have been reporting an issue with the device that causes it to crash and remain stuck in a boot loop following a restart. The issue appears to primarily affect 128 GB models, particularly those with larger app libraries, and some suggest it may be a hardware problem associated with the increased storage available on that device.

While the exact cause of the issues has not been determined, speculation by industry contacts speaking to BusinessKorea (via G for Games) suggests the problem may lie in the controller for the TLC (triple-level cell) NAND flash included in the device. This issue reportedly is new to the iPhone as Apple previously has typically used MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash in its iPhone units. The only recourse for owners experiencing this boot loop is to bring their phone back to Apple and request a replacement.

Some in the industry point out that considering that technical defects mainly occur in the 128GB version of the iPhone 6 Plus, there might be a problem in the controller IC of triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash. [...]

As numerous reports of low read performance of the Samsung SSD 840 and 840 EVO using TLC NAND flash have surfaced on the Internet, a problem in the controller IC is considered to be the more likely cause of the defects.

The report says Apple could be facing a "huge potential recall" to address the issue, but the claim is purely speculative given that the prevalence of the problem has not been established and an exact cause remains undetermined.

While Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have generally been praised since their release in September, the devices have experienced a few issues related primarily to software. In a problematic release, Apple's iOS 8.0.1 update disabled cellular service and Touch ID on the new iPhone models. Other reports pointed to a Bluetooth problem with owners claiming to have difficulty connecting to Bluetooth-enabled car stereo systems after purchasing a new iPhone model or updating their existing phone to iOS 8, an issue that appears to have been largely addressed with iOS 8.1.