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A Bluetooth flaw allows most Apple devices to be Tracked

A Bluetooth flaw allows most Apple devices to be Tracked

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A flaw was just discovered in bluetooth that would allow a bad actor to track a wide range of devices. These devices include  iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches.  Other devices are any laptops running windows 10 and fitbit wearables. However Andriod devices are not at risk.

A reported by TNW, Boston University researchers, Johannes K. Becker and David Starobinski,  discovered the vulnerability.

Researchers from Boston University (BU) have discovered a flaw in the Bluetooth communication protocol that could expose most devices to third-party tracking and leak identifiable data […]

The vulnerability allows an attacker to passively track a device by exploiting a flaw in the way Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is implemented to extract identifying tokens like the device type or other identifiable data from a manufacturer […]

To make pairing between two devices easy, BLE uses public non-encrypted advertising channels to announce their presence to other nearby devices. The protocol originally attracted privacy concerns for broadcasting permanent Bluetooth MAC addresses of devices — a unique 48-bit identifier — on these channels.

However, BLE tried to solve the problem by letting device manufacturers use a periodically changing, randomized address instead of their permanent Media Access Control (MAC) address.

The vulnerability discovered by BU researchers exploits this secondary random MAC address to successfully track a device. The researchers said the “identifying tokens” present in advertising messages are also unique to a device and remain static for long enough to be used as secondary identifiers besides the MAC address.”

Basically, it is possible to link the current address to the next one and therefore identify as the same device. This allows someone to be able to track the device indefinitely. However only at the short range of bluetooth signals.

The researches  have propsed a solution.

To protect devices from address-carryover attacks, the researchers suggest device implementations should synchronize payload changes with MAC address randomizations.

With Bluetooth device adoption growing at a massive scale, they caution that “establishing tracking-resistant methods, especially on unencrypted communication channels, is of paramount importance.”

They didn’t explain if Apple would even be able to fix this vulnerability and implement this change in an over the air update. However in the meantime there is a simple workaround.

“Switching Bluetooth off and on in the System Settings (or in the Menu Bar on macOS) will randomize the address and change the payload.”

If you want to read the full paper that contains the findings, you can read it
.

Apple gives a peak at the new emojis coming to iPhone this fall

Apple gives a peak at the new emojis coming to iPhone this fall

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Today was world Emoji day so to celebrate Apple releases a  sneak peak to the collection of emojis coming this fall. The newest designs aim to bring more diversity as well as more fun emojis to categories like food, animals, activities and smiley faces.

One of the major updates came to the holding hands emoji. This emoji typically represents couples and relationships now with the update their will be over 75 combinations since you can customize the gender and any combination of skin tone.

Based on Apples proposal to the Unicode Consortium last year to introduce more disability themed emojis this release will include a hearing aid, a  guide dog,  wheelchairs a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg. These new emojis will accomplish the diversity that Apple is pushing for.


Many emoji categories are getting new updates by adding a new smiley face for yawning, a one-piece swimsuit, new food items including a waffle, falafel, butter and garlic, and new animals like the sloth, flamingo, orangutan and skunk.

In total, there will be 59 new emoji designs in the fall. These will be added with a free software update to iphones, ipads, Mac, and apple watches. New emojis are created by being approved by Unicode 12.0.

Apple Issues Silent Update that Removes Zoom’s Hidden Server

Apple Issues Silent Update that Removes Zoom’s Hidden Server

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Apple has recently silently released an update to Mac users that removed a security vulnerability in the platform Zoom. Zoom is a popular video conferencing platform with over 4 million users across 750,000 companies using the platform around the world.

The vulnerability allowed websites to automatically add users to video conferences without their permission. Jonathan Leitschuh explained in a public vulnerability disclosure that, “any website [could] forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their video camera activated, without the user’s permission.” Even if a user uninstalled Zoom the undocumented web server remained installed on the computer. This allowed Zoom to reinstall without any user interaction or approval.

Apple’s update to resolve this issue does not require any user interaction and is deployed automatically. Zoom also released their own updated app that should fix the vulnerability as well as allow you to manually uninstall Zoom completely. Apple’s update is said to protect all past and future uses of the app for its users.

The update will now prompt the user whether or not they want to open the application or not. This is different than before where Zoom would open automatically.

Components of the Apple Watch Series 4

Components of the Apple Watch Series 4

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The Apple Watch Series 4 evolution provided a whole new different outlook and point of view on the product. There were many obstacles in creating and improving a well known device. The challenge was to attempt increasing the size of the case without making it noticeable or come to an agreement in terms of saving battery. Having narrower boarders authorizes a viewing area that is over 30% larger, while a new backplane technology known as LTPO improving on saving battery percentage. All of the dimensions have been redesigned to provide information with richer detail allowing you to see more and do more at a glance. 

The Digital Crown

The Digital Crown inducted within Apple Watch Series 4, provides a much easier way for customers to navigate around. It was designed so that it delivers a click-like feel easily perceived, as we scroll. With the Apple Series 4 mechanics totally re-engineered, the Digital Crown adds more ability and components into a significant less amount of space.

The entire components of the Digital Crown is 30 percent smaller than the previous Apple watch, yet it included 21 percent more components. The titanium electrode included on the top of the watch also allows you to use the ECG app, which is able to provide information about your heart rate and heart rhythm just by touching the Digital Crown!

 

The S4

The newest released Apple watch 4 could be used up to 18 hours with a single charge! The S4 chip included in the inner portion of the apple watch 4 is more than what it seems, it’s a System in Package (SiP). This latest apple watch have its entire system fabricated onto this tiny space! In fact Apple Watch is the one, and only product that completely runs on SiP.

The CPU and Speaker

The central processing unit(CPU) in the fourth-generation has been the fastest compared to before. Up to 2x speed, apps opens more quickly and performance is also leveled up. The speaker provides up to 50 percent louder speaker, significantly larger sounds for Siri and Walkie-Talkie. Changes have also been made to the microphone which, it has been relocated to the opposite side to reduce echoes.

Overall, the Apple Watch Series 4 has a variety of new developments that are beneficial. From having a proactive health monitor to becoming your ultimate workout partner. The Apple Watch Series 4 doesn’t only have one function. Throughout their partnerships with Nike plus and Hermes, they can be designed to demonstrate an active appearance and a professional appearance by changing the bands. There is an Apple Watch Series 4 for anyone.

Apple watch fall detection saved an 87 year olds life

Apple watch fall detection saved an 87 year olds life

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The Apple Watch series 4 has an interesting feature that allows for emergency services to be called if it detects a hard fall. This fall detection looks for the three most common types of falls, straight down, a trip or a slip. If one of those falls are detected it will alert the wearer that a fall was detected and then if no movement is detected by the wearer it will call emergency services and send a message to the wearers emergency contact. This feature is very useful for older people who may be prone to falls. 

For example, in Kennebunk Maine, an 87-year-old woman, Dotty White,  got in a car crash on her way home from the grocery store. She was unable to reach for her phone or call for help. The Apple Watch she was wearing detected a hard fall, triggering the fall detection feature. After the warning feature, it called emergency services as well as alerted her emergency contacts.

Dotty White explained to News Center Maine, “The watch dialed my son in Florida, it dialed my daughter in Massachusetts and my daughter in Maine. So they knew something had happened and they knew where it happened.”

Because her family members were notified of her location they were able to immediately go to where to go to help Dotty White.

She came out of the incident mostly ok with only a few broken bones.”It’s pretty nice to just have it on your wrist,” she added said.”You have the time, the weather and help.”

By default, the fall detection feature is disabled. You can manually enable the feature if you go to Emergency SOS.  To learn more on how to set up the feature click here.

Apple Recalls older 15inch MacBook Pros

Apple Recalls older 15inch MacBook Pros

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Apple announced on June 20th that they are now doing a voluntary recall of older generation 15inch MacBook Pros. These MacBooks were sold between September 2015 and  November 2017.  These Macs may contain a battery unit that may overheat and pose a fire risk.  The units at risk can be identified by their serial number.   Apple won’t release the exact number of laptops that were affected and bought.  But they claim that only a small number were purchased during that time frame. It is a serious issue and should not be ignored so if you or a friend has an older laptop definitely look into the recall in more detail.

If your MacBook Pro fits these credentials you can check your serial number and see if you are eligible for a replacement battery.  Just visit apple.com/support/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall .

Apple is asking that if your laptop is one of the affected units to stop using the MacBook until you get it fixed. Even though Apple is providing free replacements of the battery free of charge, to get it fixed you will need to send it to one of Apple’s repair centers. This will mean you won’t have a laptop for 1 to 2 weeks since that is the amount of time Apple claims it will take to fix.  Also, Apple will not extend the warranty of your laptop either.

This is a serious issue though so you shouldn’t allow the fact that you might not have a laptop for a few weeks prevent you from looking into if your laptop contains one of these affected batteries.

This recall does not affect any other MacBook Pro units or Mac notebooks.

 

iOS 13 Feature May Save Battery Life

iOS 13 Feature May Save Battery Life

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Apple’s new iPhone software will include a feature called “optimized battery charging” and may save longterm battery life. This is important because many people are keeping their phones for 3 or 4 years. People are keeping them much longer than the 2 years that was normal when smartphones first came out.

Batteries, however, start to lose their ability to hold a charge as they age making the battery life get worse. The new iOS 13 now has a feature to combat this problem and will be launched to the public in the Fall.

It is already available for developer testing ahead of a public preview launch next month. It can be found under the battery in settings on the iPhone. The feature is already turned on by default, which means you may not even need to turn it on when the software is available this fall.

Apple explains what it does on the iOS 13 update website:

“A new option helps slow the rate of battery aging by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged. iPhone uses on-device machine learning to understand your daily charging routine so it can wait to finish charging past 80% until you need to use it.”

The lithium battery that Apple uses in their phones quickly charges the first 80% of the battery and then uses a “trickle charge” that charges the last 20%. So when your phone is plugged in, the trickle charge continues to run trying to maintain that 100% battery charge. This wears out your battery. If you want to read more about Apple’s batteries you can check out their battery website.

The new feature will prevent the battery from charging to 100% until it thinks you are going to need it. It will analyze when you typically pull your phone from the charger. Then it’ll finish charging the phone just before you typically pull it from the charger so that it isn’t maintaining the trickle charge which wears out the battery.

This feature is supposed to decrease battery aging by reducing the stress on the battery. It will allow iPhone users to keep their phones at peak performance for longer. Which is great for people that want a phone for multiple years.

iPhone 11 Design LEAKED

iPhone 11 Design LEAKED

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The Anonymous Industry insider ‘Mr. White’ has leaked the new iPhone designs yet again this year. He has for a long time leaked the next generation of iPhones in advance of them being released by Apple. Apple is thought to release the iPhone 11 in Fall 2019.

However, many people have not been happy with the way that the new generation of iPhones will look. It appears as if the new iPhones will ignore style and focus solely on function. It will have some huge sensory upgrades so that the iPhone’s function will be able to compete with other top smartphone models. Because of this, the new iPhone features a huge camera hump on the back of the phone.

The iPhone will be getting a big battery upgrade with much longer battery life. Many people will be happy with this upgrade. But a major loss will be the 3D touch display since the new iPhone will no longer have it. As well as the notch at the top of the screen will remain even though many competitors have already gotten rid of theirs.

New features coming to iOS 13

New features coming to iOS 13

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Apple previewed some of the new features that will be contained in iOS 13  which will be released for iPhones in the fall.

“iOS 13 brings new capabilities to the apps you use every day, with rich updates to Photos and Maps, and privacy-protecting features like Sign In with Apple, all while delivering faster performance” – Craig Federighi,  Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

iOS 13 will also not be affecting iPads anymore because Apple split off and made the iPad have its own update called iPad OS.

 

Dark Mode

The iPhone will now offer dark mode which offers a new dark color scheme that allows for easier viewing of your screen in low light environments.  Dark mode inverts the usual white background and black text and replaces it with a black background and white text.  This will work system-wide and will automatically be integrated into native apps.

 

New features in the Photo app


The photo app now has new organization features.

  • Automatically organizes photos by year, month and date so that its easier to find photos
  • Live photos and videos play as you scroll
  • Built to highlight the best photos by hiding clutter and similar photos

 

 

 

 

Portrait Lighting will have customization while taking photos.

You will be able to move the light closer to sharpen eyes or smooth skin or you can move the light farther away to create a subtle look. This will be able to be done all simultaneously while taking photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video and Photo editing tools

Editing will now be applied to videos right in the photo editing app. This includes rotating a video as well as the normal visual editing seen in photos.

Photo editing also will get a redesign with the addition of editing a picture by just tapping and dragging with your finger.

 

 

Quick Path

This feature has already been available on Android phones for a while now. Apple with the new update is bringing the idea of swiping instead of typing to iPhones. You will now be able to trace a word as you spell it out instead of typing at a keyboard. It is hypothetically faster than typing.

Sign in with Apple 

Apple will now offer a way to “sign in to apps and websites quickly and easily using the Apple ID you already have. No filling out forms or creating new passwords. Just tap Sign In with Apple, use Face ID or Touch ID, and you’re all set.”

You will also be given the option whether you want to show your email or not to the app.


Apple Maps Improvements

  • new 3D mode
  • more detailed views because of broader road coverage
  • adding Collections to easily share favorite restaurants and more
  • adding Favorites for places you frequently visit

Other important new features

  • Customization for Memoji will now include more options like piercings and will be able to be stickers on messages.
  • New Siri voice that will make it sound more natural as well as understand you better.
  • Find my Friends and Find my Phone will now combine into Find My

 

Apple Accessibility Features you Might not of Known About

Apple Accessibility Features you Might not of Known About

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“The accessibility problems of today are the mainstream breakthroughs of tomorrow.” –Eve Andersson, Director of Google AI.

For Apple, accessibility is one of its seven core values. They want everyone to be included and able to use their products. They “build powerful assistive features into their products to give people with physical limitations greater control over their lives.”

I wanted to provide a list of different accessibility features you might not have known about:

VoiceOver: VoiceOver tells you what is happening on your screen in real time. This is great because it allows  you to navigate your device just by listening.

Invert Colors: Invert colors changes the display values on your phone to create more contrast. This feature has multiple vision settings for people with a range of vision needs. BONUS hack: if you turn this on, it helps save and or prolong your battery life.

Magnifier: You can use this tool to increase the size of anything you point it at. How it works is that, it uses the camera on your device to increase the size of the things you point at.

LED Flash-Phone ringer: This can be very alerting or very annoying. When you have an incoming FaceTime call, text message, email or notification you can set the flash from your camera to go off. Trust me, you will never miss a notification again if this feature is set on.

Type questions to Siri:You do not actually have to talk to Siri with this feature. You can type your question or command out.

Make larger buttons for easier tapping:This trick,  allows you to manipulate the button’s shape to make it larger or more 3D like. For anyone with eye-hand coordination impairment, button shapes can help more accurate and efficient tapping. But it can also help if you have larger fingers!

Connecting hearing aids to your apple device:You can connect your hearing aids via Bluetooth capability. But what is really cool is, you can choose the “Live Listen” mode when connecting your hearing aids. This mode uses the iPhone’s mic to pick up on outside conversations and sounds, further bettering your hearing.