Dashlane announced on Thursday a redesign of its Password Changer, as well as a new autofill engine powered by machine learning.
Password Changer seamlessly logs users into compatible websites, generates strong, unique passwords, then changes the passwords for those sites on the user’s behalf in one-click.
Interested persons can sign up to test the beta versions of Dashlane with these new features using this website.
We have a deal on a nifty gadget today, the Pocket Smartphone Forehead Thermometer. It features a built-in thermopile sensor that measures temperature through accurate recognition of the human body surface. Aim at the center of the forehead, and its one-second measurement provides accurate reading to even 0.1°. You plug it in to your iPhone for power and read the display for the temperature, making it small enough to carry around in your pocket. The deal listing also has an option for an Android version of the device.
There’s been much talk in recent days, as Apple’s market cap has slipped at points to sit below the US$2 trillion mark. Cult of Mac shared a timely reminder of when AAPL first overtook Walmart stock.
At the time, AAPL was trading at $226 per share. Today, it trades at $275.43. If that doesn’t seem much of an increase, bear in mind that a 7-to-1 stock split took place in 2014 after AAPL peaked at $645. If that split hadn’t happened, Apple would now be trading at approximately $1,925. It didn’t take Apple long to catch up to market leaders ExxonMobil and Microsoft, either. In May 2010, Apple overtook Microsoft, surpassing the tech giant that dominated Cupertino during the previous decade. A little over a year after that, on August 9, 2011, Apple blew past oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable company. In all, it was an astonishing turnaround for a company that came perilously close to going out of business during the 1990s.
The developer behind Docker-OSX released a standalone tool to generate serial codes that can be used to create “a virtual army of Hackintoshes.”
Just type in a command, and it will set up a CSV file full of serial codes. “You can generate hundreds and thousands of serial numbers, just like that. And it just generates a massive list.
Jason Gurwin reports that some Netflix users recently began seeing warnings if the company detects you’re using someone else’s password.
We’ve heard the test right now is only on TV devices. A Netflix spokesperson told The Streamable, “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.” It isn’t clear if users in the test all need to be on the same IP address to be considered in the same household.
To quote Jahil Nelson: “The only thing worse than a bunch of people pirating your software is …nobody pirating your software.”
Apple TV+ has been available for well over a year now, and some of the shows have picked up a considerable fan base. Writing for 9to5 Mac, marketing strategist Parker Ortolani argued that we now need some official merch. (And I think he’s got a good point…)
There is plenty of bootleg merch on the web for different Apple TV+ shows, primarily for “Ted Lasso.” That comes as no surprise since the show has been a huge hit for the company. The upbeat show has become a mainstay of pandemic life. It’s uplifting and just a pure joy to watch during these difficult times. We all know that if Apple were to take a stab at making merch, they would make some awesome things. In fact, they already have made some products to market shows like “Ted Lasso.” But they haven’t made them available to the public, rather opting to send gift packages to press and leaders of the television industry. The Apple-branded merch products that they sell exclusively at Infinite Loop and at Apple Park have always been incredibly cool pieces to show your Apple pride. There’s no doubt that Apple’s designers could do the same for these shows and films.
AppleInsider has picked up on another amazing story of an Apple Watching helping save someone’s life. William Rogers was able to call 911 for help and have firefighters respond after he fell through the ice on Salmon Falls River, New Hampshire because he had the wearable on.
“I remember telling myself, ‘OK, don’t panic. Don’t panic,'” Rogers said. “Figure out what your options are here.” As the seconds passed and hypothermia was on the verge of setting in, he remembered he was wearing his Apple Watch, and he used it to call 911. “So, I told them that I probably had 10 minutes before I was not gonna be able to respond anymore,” he said. The fire department that provided the rescue was able to arrive within five minutes of the call through the Apple Watch.
Disney+ has cleared the 100 million subscriber mark, CNBC reported on Tuesday. It comes just 16 months after the streaming service launched.
“The enormous success of Disney+, which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers, has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” (Disney CEO Bob) Chapek said in statement. Disney’s streaming service has released a number of popular TV series since its launch, including two seasons of “The Mandalorian” and its first Marvel series, “WandaVision.” Both have been top-viewed content, according to reports from Nielsen, and have driven sign-ups for the service. Disney has made its Disney+ service a destination for family-friendly favorites and the only place Marvel and Star Wars fans can see content that directly connects to blockbuster theatrical features.
Hackers have breached the systems of Verkada, a startup that sells security cameras. The group says it was done to expose how widespread video surveillance is.
A person with knowledge of the matter said Verkada’s chief information security officer, an internal team and an external security firm are investigating the incident. The company is working to notify customers and set up a support line to address questions, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Upcoming MacBooks could incorporate multiple discrete haptic areas. That’s according to a new patent, spotted by Patently Apple.
Apple’s granted patent generally relates to electronic devices with one or more input areas that also function to provide spatially localized haptics via the Taptic Engine. “Spatially localized” haptics (or haptic output) generally refers to any haptic signal, e.g., haptic output, that is tactilely perceptible to a person touching a particular active region of the electronic device, but imperceptible outside that region. The surface area over which a single haptic output is perceptible is referred to as a “discrete haptic region.” There may be any number of discrete haptic regions in an input area of a laptop computing device. The discrete haptic regions may be separated from each other, or they may overlap. Either way, they remain discrete haptic regions each associated with an individual haptic actuator. An “input area” is a structure or surface configured to accept a user input.
Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces are the newest entries to the audio space, but they both do different things with your data. Matt Binder examined their privacy policies.
The two platforms’ approaches to data storage really speak to a major difference in their intended uses. It seems Twitter users will be able to Spaces for more permanent content that they can repurpose for other platforms and mediums; whereas Clubhouse rooms will live strictly in the moment.
I don’t want to spoil the article but it sounds like Clubhouse audio recordings are more ephemeral.
An iPhone app called Call Recorder lets users record their phone call conversations. But a recently discovered bug leaked those calls.
But using a readily available proxy tool like Burp Suite, Prakash could view and modify the network traffic going in and out of the app. That meant he could replace his phone number registered with the app with the phone number of another app user, and access their recordings on his phone.
A new version of the app was submitted to Apple’s app store on Saturday. The release notes said the app update was to “patch a security report.”
It was one of the first major events cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, but Mobile World Congress looks set to go ahead in Barcelona in 2021. Indeed, 50,000 could attend, Bloomberg News reported.
The GSMA trade body said everyone present will have to show a negative Covid-19 result to access the Fira Gran Via venue and repeat the test every 72 hours. Rapid testing centers will be made available on site and organizers are considering using hotels for more. Additional measures being put in place for one of Europe’s most important business gatherings include a new contact tracing mobile app, real-time occupancy monitoring, improved air conditioning at the venue, and an increased number of on-site medical staff. “We believe that we can have around 45,000 to 50,000 attendees, as of today,” Stephanie Lynch-Habib, the GSMA’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview on Monday, adding that visitor interest is expected to be strong.
Users can expect an Apple AR headset next year, with glasses following in 2025 and contact lenses during the next decade. That’s according to a note by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, seen by AppleInsider.
In outlining an expected roadmap for Apple’s AR efforts, Ming-Chi Kuo claims AR and MR will be the “next critical technology that defines the innovative human-machine interface of electronics products.” However, while virtual reality devices will be niche, MR and AR hardware is reckoned to become mainstream down the line. Apple is thought to deploy products in AR and MR in three phases, with the first being a “helmet type” in 2022. It will be followed by a “glasses type” product in 2025, then contact lens-based hardware between 2030 and 2040. This is a little push back of the expected schedule for Kuo, as a January note floated the idea of AR hardware releasing in 2021. However, earlier notes from TF securities proposed a 2022 launch.
Hot on the heels of its big 3.0 update, the next announcement for Cryptee is support for DOCX uploading and editing. You can also export documents as DOCX, making Cryptee a viable cloud-based private alternative to Microsoft Word and Google Docs. However, there is an extra security bonus to Cryptee:
A little known fact about docx files is that, due to the fact that they support macros, and other ways to execute code in them, they are commonly used by malicious third parties to distribute and spread malware viruses. Cryptee does not run / execute macros while opening docx files, allowing you to open / edit / save DOCX files safely, without having to worry about your computer getting infected.
An Electrum wallet with a backdoor has been spotted in the wild by ConfiantIntel. They noticed that it’s another example of a piece of malware notarized by Apple. Link to tweet thread below.
These fake wallets were introduced during a Malvertising attack our security team discovered early this week, involving the hacking of a Major SSP. The hackers redirected the victims to https://electrum-4.github[.]io/ asking them to install an update of the electrum wallet.
In a separate tweet, it looks like one of Patrick Wardle’s tools can detect it.
Microsoft announced on Friday support for M1 Macs for its Visual Studio Code software.
We are happy to announce our first release of stable Apple Silicon builds this iteration. Users on Macs with M1 chips can now use VS Code without emulation with Rosetta, and will notice better performance and longer battery life when running VS Code. Thanks to the community for self-hosting with the Insiders build and reporting issues early in the iteration.
Jamf, the Apple-focused device management firm, reported strong revenue for both Q4 2020 and the year as a whole. It follows increasing enterprise demand for Apple products. Furthermore, the company is now manager over 20 million devices, 9to5 Mac reported.
One of the key financial figures Jamf has been reporting is annual recurring revenue (ARR). Jamf’s Q4 recurring revenue grew 40% year-over-year to $70 million; its fiscal year recurring revenue rose 42% to $249.2 million. “We finished 2020 with high growth across every product, geography, and the top 10 industries we serve, demonstrating the strength and diversity of our platform,” said Dean Hager, CEO of Jamf. “As we look to 2021, we’ll continue to expand the breadth and depth of our Apple Enterprise Management platform to enhance our value to customers and accelerate further penetration of Apple in the enterprise.” Jamf had set a goal of managing 20 million Apple devices by the end of 2020 way back in 2015. The company ended the year with 20.4 million Apple devices on its platform with more than 47,000 customers.
Apple TV+ has picked up three Saturn Awards nominations from The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, AppleInsider reported. This might not be quite up there with the Golden Globes and other awards the stream service’s content has been put forward for, but no doubt every piece of recognition will be welcomed.
“For All Mankind,” is nominated in the Best Fantasy Television Series category. It will compete against shows including “Outlander,” “The Twilight Zone,” and “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” Similarly, “Amazing Stories” will compete against “The Mandalorian,” “His Dark Materials,” and, perhaps oddly, also “Perry Mason” for Best Television Presentation (Under 10 Episodes). Lastly, “Servant” is nominated in the Best Horror Television Series category, opposite such dramas as “The Walking Dead,” and “Creepshow.”
Researchers at Zimperium analyzed 1.3 million Android and iOS apps to detect common cloud misconfigurations. They found that nearly 84,000 Android apps and 47,000 iOS apps have errors.
The researchers found almost 84,000 Android apps and nearly 47,000 iOS apps using public cloud services—like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure—in their backend as opposed to running their own servers. Of those, the researchers found misconfigurations in 14 percent of those totals—11,877 Android apps and 6,608 iOS apps—exposing users’ personal information, passwords, and even medical information.
Google wrote a post updating its plans for its Privacy Sandbox project. Its goal is to make third-party cookies obsolete.
we are confident that with continued iteration and feedback, privacy-preserving and open-standard mechanisms like the Privacy Sandbox can sustain a healthy, ad-supported web in a way that will render third-party cookies obsolete.
Once these approaches have addressed the needs of users, publishers, and advertisers, and we have developed the tools to mitigate workarounds, we plan to phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome.
I don’t know what the new “open standards” will be, but I’m definitely skeptical given the nature of Google’s advertising business. Will there be a new first-party tracking technique? Update: Here’s why the EFF thinks it’s a terrible idea.
Amazon Web Services announced on Wednesday the general availability of Ethereum on Amazon Managed Blockchain.
With Amazon Managed Blockchain, customers get secure networking, encryption at rest and transport, secure access to the network via standard open-source Ethereum APIs, fast and reliable syncs to the Ethereum blockchain, and durable elastic storage for ledger data. Amazon Managed Blockchain monitors node health, replaces unhealthy nodes, and automates Ethereum software upgrades, improving the availability of customers’ Ethereum infrastructure.
Private browser Brave is getting ready to launch its own branded search engine with its acquisition of Cliqz.
The former Cliqz dev team, who had subsequently been working on Tailcat, are moving to Brave as part of the acquisition. The engineering team is led by Dr Josep M Pujol — who is quoted in Brave’s PR saying it’s “excited to be working on the only real private search/browser alternative to Big Tech”.
Interesting move, and I look forward to more private search engines.
Amazon Fire TV now has over 400 live streaming channels, Deadline reported. Furthermore, half of these are free, ad-supported offerings. Some features have been updated too.
Nearly 20 programmers are supplying live channel content, among them bundled subscription services like YouTube TV, Sling TV and Philo. Newly integrated on Fire are free offerings like Xumo and Amazon’s IMDb TV and news app. Plex will soon join the fold. Voice commands via Amazon Alexa have also been added to live TV programs. Alexa will respond to commands to “play Good Morning America” or “play the Seahawks game,” for example. Live shows also now appear in the “App Peek” feature of the updated Fire TV user interface.
