Friday, May 20, 2011

Apple : 'Mac Defender' trojan causing Mac users woe

Apple : 'Mac Defender' trojan causing Mac users woe

'Mac Defender' trojan causing Mac users woe

Posted: 20 May 2011 07:35 AM PDT

A scareware programme known as 'Mac Defender' is currently causing an increasing number of Mac users woe by demanding payment to remove viruses it claims to have found on their machines.

The programme appears to automatically download to unprotected machines, exploiting the default 'open files after download' setting of most web browsers.

Although the user must provide an administrator name and password to install the bogus software, a 'significant number' of users seem to have done just that.

The software then autoruns, makes out like its scanning the Mac for viruses and asks users for credit card details in order to remove the viruses it claims to have found.

Mouldy Apple

Apple support staff have been instructed that: "AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware. You should not confirm or deny whether the customer's Mac is infected or not."

As well as Mac Defender, the malware also occasionally calls itself "Mac Protector" and "Mac Security", and is spreading through legitimate advertising networks and 'poisoned' Google searches.

Mac users should disable the 'open files after download' option in their browser settings to avoid accidentally installing the programme.

The Guardian reckons an organised gang is behind the scam, although it's not clear where the evidence for this supposition has come from.

Either way, it's a sad day for Mac users, many of whom thought themselves somewhat untouchable in the virus/malware arena.

In Depth: iPad 3 rumours: what you need to know

Posted: 20 May 2011 01:24 AM PDT

The iPad 2 is out, and the rumour factory's already moved on: it's predicting iPad 3 specifications including chips, cameras and retina displays - with a little bit of help from mysterious, unnamed people who can't possibly be identified.

How very convenient. So what's the word on the street about the next iPad?

First, our colleagues at T3.com have rounded up the latest rumours in the iPad 3 video below:

The iPad 3 release date is September 2011

This is the biggest rumour of all: an iPad 3 mere months after the iPad 2. An unnamed Apple employee says that the iPad 2 was a bit of a rush job, and "the third generation iPad is the one to make a song and dance about."

Respected Apple watcher John Gruber added fuel to that particular fire by strongly hinting that the iPad 3 release date will be in September.

Gruber, who was musing about the HP TouchPad's potential summer release said: "Summer feels like a long time away.

"If my theory is right, they're not only going to be months behind the iPad 2, but if they slip until late summer, they might bump up against the release of the iPad 3."

If Gruber is right about this and the iPad 3 features in an Apple autumn line-up, then it looks like Apple is going to start offering a new iPad every six months.

The iPad 3 UK release date is a mystery

With Apple apparently unable to meet demand for iPad 2, we'd expect a staggered release date for the iPad 3 too: if the US gets the iPad 3 in September, we'd expect the UK iPad 3 release date to be in October, or possibly even November. Apple won't want to miss the Christmas period, but the US comes first.

The iPad 3 specs include a dual-core processor

It's possible that the iPad 3 will have a brand spanking new processor, Apple's A6, but if the rumoured release date is correct then time is awfully tight: we'd certainly expect to see an A5, not an A6, in the iPhone 5 when it turns up this summer.

Apple may well surprise us, of course, but we'd expect to see the same processor and graphics as the iPad 2 in the iPad 3: an A5 processor with PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics. This one comes down to the iPad 3 release date: if it's 2011, expect an A5. If it's 2012, expect a faster A6.

The iPad 3 features include a retina display

This was widely predicted for the iPad 2, but of course the current iPad doesn't have a double-resolution display: for now, that's something you'll only get in the iPhone 4. Could a Retina Display be one of the features Apple didn't quite get into the iPad 2? Could be! It's the very first thing on our iPad 3 wish list.

Rumours of an HD screen on the iPad 3 gathered pace on 12 April 2011 when Digitimes reported that Apple is asking panel makers to provide screens that are capable of displaying higher image quality than the iPad 2.

The iPad 3 hardware could include an NFC chip

Apple's very interested in Near Field Communications, and one particularly tasty rumour at Cult of Mac suggests that the iPhone 5 will use NFC to take over nearby Macs, enabling you to use your data and settings with a flick of the wrist. Since the iPad 3 will follow the iPhone 5, if NFC's in one it'll probably be in the other too.

The iPad 3 specifications will include more storage

The iPad 2 has the familiar 16/32/64GB storage options, but as flash storage comes down in price a 128GB option for the iPad 3 isn't impossible - although that might depend on the current horrible situation in Asia, where the tsunami has caused chaos in parts of the electronics industry.

The iPad 3 features could include a Thunderbolt port

Two generations of USB-free iPads suggest that Apple just isn't interested in adding one, but the new Thunderbolt port found in the 2011 MacBook Pro could be another story: it's a combined accessory/display connector with astonishingly fast performance.

The iPad 3 may live in the cloud

This has been talked about and leaked about for so long that, on the same principle that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, it's bound to come true eventually: a cloud-based MobileMe for storing your stuff on Apple's servers. A new iPad with iOS 5 and a new MobileMe would be lots of fun.

The iPad 3 specs might include an SD card slot

This was widely predicted for iPad 2 and, like the retina display, didn't materialise. One for version 3, perhaps? Using a separate adapter to read camera cards is rather inelegant and clunky.

The iPad 3 specification should include a better camera

The rear-facing camera on the iPad 2 isn't brilliant: an iPhone 4 camera and flash would do nicely.

The iPad 3 could feature a carbon fibre case

Apple has hired a carbon fibre expert, senior composites engineer Kevin Kenney, fuelling speculation that the next iPad could be encased in the lightweight material.

The iPad 3 price might be higher than the iPad 2

The iPad 2 didn't herald a price hike, but if the iPad 3's coming in September we don't think a massive iPad 2 price cut is very likely - which suggests that if the iPad 3 does appear then, it might be more of an iPad Pro - with a price to match.

Apple music streaming to be sped-up by local storage?

Posted: 19 May 2011 04:21 PM PDT

Apple's forthcoming cloud-based music streaming service could be faster than its rivals by storing small portions of songs locally on your device.

Based on a new information gleaned from a new patent, Apple's service will load songs faster by accessing the first portion of the track locally, while iOS scours the cloud for the rest of the song.

That would mean a portion of iPhone's hard-drive would be used to store the first few seconds of a track, but once it is loaded from the web, playback will sync perfectly.

This new means of streaming music would eliminate the need for the device to cache enough of the song for it to play all the way through without the risk of buffering.

Undesired pauses

The application reads: "When the electronic device is unaware of the next media item to play back, the electronic device can require undesired pauses between media items.

"Similarly, when a user skips to a different media item for playback, the electronic device can require a long pause during which no media item is played back as the new media item is streamed to the device."

So, the patent "Local Storage of a Portion of Streamed Media Items," could be the key to Apple providing a faster, more efficient cloud-service for its users.

With this new insight into the potential inner workings of the streaming service, and Wednesday's news that Apple has secured streaming deals with some major record labels, it seems that Cupertino is nearly good to go with this potentially industry-changing venture.

The smart money is on an unveiling at WWDC on June 7th.
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