Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Software : Apple iOS contains snooping-friendly features, says security researcher

Software : Apple iOS contains snooping-friendly features, says security researcher

Apple iOS contains snooping-friendly features, says security researcher

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Apple iOS contains snooping-friendly features, says security researcher

Apple has had to rebuff claims (again) that it has included some features that could allow third parties to gather data from devices without users knowing.

Security researcher, Jonathan Zdziarski, reckons that Apple doesn't do enough to protect data through encryption.

He explained that once a device is first unlocked after reboot, most of the encrypted data is accessible until the device is shut down.

"Your device is almost always at risk of spilling all data, since it's almost always authenticated, even while locked," Zdziarksi added.

He highlighted the fact that some services run in iOS that shouldn't be there and were "intentionally added by Apple as part of the firmware".

He stopped short of accusing Apple of deliberately adding these to facilitate mass spying from intelligence agencies like the NSA.

Apple's forceful denial

Apple sent a statement to iMore explaining that "We have designed iOS so that its diagnostic functions do not compromise user privacy and security, but still provides needed information to enterprise IT departments, developers and Apple for troubleshooting technical issues."

It further added, "A user must have unlocked their device and agreed to trust another computer before that computer is able to access this limited diagnostic data. The user must agree to share this information, and data is never transferred without their consent."

Apple's statement ended by highlighting the fact that it "has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services."

Microsoft revenues up thanks to Cloud services, Nokia brings a hit

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Microsoft revenues up thanks to Cloud services, Nokia brings a hit

Despite Microsoft appearing to be in the dumps after laying off some 18,000 employees and shuttering Xbox Entertainment Studios the company has announced some profitable fourth quarter numbers.

The Redmond company announced its revenues for the quarter ending on June 30 peaked at $23 billion (about £13 billion, AU$24 billion), up 18% compared to last year.

As Microsoft came to own Nokia, phone hardware contributed $1.99 billion (about £1.1 billion, AU$2 billion) to Microsoft's yearly revenue. However, expenses relating to the purchase amounted to $127 million (about £74m, AU$135m) and resulted in Microsoft missing earnings per share expectations.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood noted the company is going through evolutionary changes that are "painful" but "necessary." Although Hood didn't directly address Microsoft's recent downscaling actions, these comments seem to allude to an explanation for them.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared some much more pointed comments explaining it has decided to focus specifically on games for the Xbox One. However, we could see Microsoft's music and video ambitions expanded to a wider audience on PCs and laptops.

Whipping clouds

The operating system maker also noted the strong quarter was driven by a push into cloud services. This includes everything from Windows 8.1's cloud syncing, and 5.6 million Office 365 Home and Personal subscribers.

Nadella also announced Microsoft is doubling down on Xbox One's cloud-enhanced gaming and enterprise-grade cloud services called Azure. The Microsoft head said his company is doubling capacity on Azure servers as well as expanding to new territories, including Brazil and Japan.

Even Bing is pulling some numbers with US search share growing to 19.2% whilst advertising revenue through the search engine increasing by 40%.

Nadella said in the future Microsoft will continue to merge its business and professional software solutions together as it did with combining Link into Skype as well as turning Outlook into its sole email client.

Microsoft, the hardware company

Of course Microsoft isn't just a software company. In the financial report the company revealed Surface revenue reached $409 million (about £239m, AU$435m) aided by second-generation Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 devices, along with the recent launch of Surface Pro 3.

The Xbox One is also fairing ever so slightly better as well with revenue increasing to $104 million (about £60m, AU$110m). Microsoft says it has sold 100,000 more consoles than the 1 million units it sold last year.

eBay barcode scanner app brings stealth price checking to Google Glass

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eBay barcode scanner app brings stealth price checking to Google Glass

Barcode scanners have been helping shoppers save money since the dawn of the smartphone era, but getting busted looking for a better deal online by the struggling independent store owner sure is embarrassing.

However, help is at hand for guilt-ridden Google Glass Explorers who can now perform on-the-sly price comparisons thanks to the launch of the eBay RedLaser app on Google's high tech headpiece.

Much like its mobile predecessor, the RedLaser app allows users to use Glass to focus on and scan the barcode in question to bring up local and web-based offers including, of course, eBay listings.

If the better deal is a mile across town the app will guide users to the point of sale, but if they wish to buy online, users will need to grab their mobile device in order to complete the purchase.

Voice enabled

Even more intriguingly, the RedLaser app is also compatible with Google Now voice commands, allowing users to eschew the barcode scanning altogether and simply utter, "Ok Glass, find a product."

The app from eBay already has over 30 million users on Windows Phone, iOS and Android, but this is certainly the most 'eye-catching' version yet.

Half-baked Amazon Wallet slips in ahead of Fire Phone launch

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Half-baked Amazon Wallet slips in ahead of Fire Phone launch

The Amazon Fire Phone is just days away from launching and to head off the big release, Amazon has introduced a new digital payment system.

The Amazon Wallet quietly launched into a beta on the Amazon app store with limited functionality, at least at the start.

Currently users can only store and use loyalty and gift cards from multiple large retail stores and restaurant chains. Users perusing Amazon's digital shelves can also store their credit card, debit card and checking account information on the app.

The Amazon Wallet app is still well behind other digital wallet options like PayPal and Google Wallet. However, this is only a beta and it could be a very early look of what Amazon has planned for its own digital payment system.

Amazon Wallet will come pre-loaded on the Fire Phone, but anyone interested in trying it out can download the app from the Amazon App or Google Play Store.

Pick and buy

One of the most unique (and somewhat dangerous) features of Amazon's Fire Phone is its ability to recognize real-world objects using its camera and then pull a store listing for them.

As shopping is an instrumental part of Fire Phone's experience, more mobile payment options will almost assuredly follow soon. Until then, stay tuned for more news on the Fire Phone as we get closer to its July 25 release date.

Microsoft is strapping a GoPro channel to the Xbox One's face

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Microsoft is strapping a GoPro channel to the Xbox One's face

We've seen GoPro cameras strapped to some strange places, but the Xbox platform is not necessarily one we'd have guessed they would end up.

Nevertheless Microsoft has announced that it's adding a new GoPro channel app to the Xbox One starting today.

The GoPro channel lets users browse and share videos taken with GoPro cameras and purchase GoPro cameras and equipment directly from the app.

Additionally, the Xbox One GoPro app features four exclusive videos for users to watch, including one in which a camera is strapped to a kung fu weapon.

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujiVhTU1zY

Going pro

The Xbox 360 got its own GoPro app in April, and Microsoft says it's been downloaded almost half a million times.

GoPro channel users on the older console reportedly watch an average of 18 minutes of footage per session worldwide and 30 minutes average in the US.

Xbox Wire staff wrote in a blog post that Microsoft is excited to have GoPro join the ranks of other user-created content apps like Twitch and YouTube on Xbox One.

It's not a bad deal for GoPro, either: "The Xbox-GoPro relationship helps support GoPro's initiative to grow content distribution and expand community reach worldwide, and we're very excited to participate in these efforts with the launch on Xbox One," the blog post reads.
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