Apple has hired Nat Brown, co-creator of the Xbox game console and a former VR engineer for Valve, to work on unknown projects.
Andrew Orr
Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.
Articles by Andrew Orr
Counterfeit iPhone Smuggler Gets Three Years in Prison
iPhone smuggler Jianhua “Jeff” Li was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of smuggling 40,000 iPhones into the U.S.
Jamf Gets Native Mac Security With Digita Security
Enterprise Mac company Jamf has acquired Digita Security, bringing native Mac security to its platform.
Digita, a two-year old startup, was founded by a team of security experts led by Patrick Wardle, whose background includes a decade as a Mac security researcher, seeking out vulnerabilities on the Mac, and time at the NSA where he honed his security research skills.
Patrick makes a lot of great Mac tools with Objective See that I recommend.
Apple Joins Open Source Data Transfer Project
Apple is joining the Data Transfer Project, an open source initiative to make it easier for uers to transfer data in between services.
LinkedIn Violates Library Privacy With LinkedIn Learning
Many states have laws in place to protect the privacy of libraries. But LinkedIn is violating this with LinkedIn Learning, formerly known as Lynda.com.
Currently, when Lynda.com is accessed through a library, a user logs in with her or his library card and a PIN. No other personal information is required.
Under the new LinkedIn Learning policy, library users would be required to create a personal, publicly searchable, profile and agree to LinkedIn’s user agreement and privacy policy before being able to use LinkedIn Learning.
Checking off the user agreement grants LinkedIn the power to share the information contained in a personal profile with whoever LinkedIn wants.
Libraries are a bastion against corporations, where you can get free resources and just hang out without having to buy anything. I hope this gets resolved in the library’s favor.
Apple Wearables Jumped to $5.53 Billion in Q3 2019
Apple’s category for “Wearables, Home, and Accessories” jumped to US$5.5.3 billion in Q3 2019, an increase from US$3.73 billion in Q3 2018.
Apple Card Rollout Scheduled for August
During Apple’s earnings call for Q3 2019, Tim Cook mentioned that Apple Card rollout will begin in August.
Capital One Hack: What We Know and What You Can Do
A Capital One hack was recently discovered, affecting over 100 million people. Here’s what we know, and what you can do to stay protected.
![Apple Stores Offer Augmented Reality ‘[AR]T’ Walks](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/workfeatured-art.webp)
Apple Stores Offer Augmented Reality '[AR]T' Walks
Apple retail stores will begin offering [AR]T, Today at Apple augmented reality experiences featuring contemporary artists.
These experiential walks take participants through San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo as they encounter works by world-renowned artists, most of whom are working in AR for the first time. Works by Cave, Djurberg and Berg, Cao, Giorno, Höller and Rist connect participants to public spaces such as London’s Trafalgar Square, San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens or New York’s Grand Army Plaza in Central Park.
Google's Project Zero Finds 6 iOS 'Interactionless' Bugs
Google’s security team Project Zero recently found six “interactionless” iOS bugs. If sold on the black market they would be worth over US$5 million.
According to the researcher, four of the six security bugs can lead to the execution of malicious code on a remote iOS device, with no user interaction needed. All an attacker needs to do is to send a malformed message to a victim’s phone, and the malicious code will execute once the user opens and views the received item.
The fifth and sixth bugs, CVE-2019-8624 and CVE-2019-8646, can allow an attacker to leak data from a device’s memory and read files off a remote device –also with no user interaction.
Capital One Hack Affects Credit Card Customers
On July 19 Capital One found it had gotten hacked. The FBI arrested the hacker but 100 million U.S. customers are affected.
The largest category of information accessed was information on consumers and small businesses as of the time they applied for one of our credit card products from 2005 through early 2019. This information included personal information Capital One routinely collects at the time it receives credit card applications, including names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income.
What angers me the most about this is the fact that I had to read the news to learn what happened. As a Capital One customer I feel I should’ve been notified by email. Customers affected by this will get an email but I want a notification email as well. Maybe I’ll get five bucks like those affected by Equifax.
The 2020 iPhone Should Include a USB-C Port
Dieter Bohn writes that the 2020 iPhone should have a USB-C port, instead of a port coming to the 2019 iPhone.
I think it’s easier to get people to accept port changes when they go along with some other kind of dramatic change to a product line. And not to put too fine a point on it: if the rumors are correct, this year’s iPhone 11 doesn’t look like a very dramatic change.
The main reason I want a USB-C iPhone is flash drives. I’d love a USB-C flash drive that I could plug into both my iPad Pro and my iPhone. I have a wireless one that works with both, but it requires a separate app to use. One that “just works” natively with the Files app is ideal to me.
Websites Using Facebook Like Buttons Liable for Data Collection
The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled that websites that use Facebook’s ‘like’ button can be held liable for data collection.
Meet the Never-Googlers Who Shun the Mountain View Company
The Never-Googlers are people who avoid using Google services and try to convince family and friends to give them up as well.
These intrepid Web users say they’d rather deal with daily inconveniences than give up more of their data. That means setting up permanent vacation responders on Gmail and telling friends to resend files or video links that don’t require Google software. More than that, it takes a lot of discipline.
Wouldn’t you know it, I wrote a list of Google alternatives.
Pocket Build 2.5 Rolls Out First-Person Mode
Pocket Build is a building game where you can build your own little worlds, and Pocket Build 2.5 rolling out first-person mode.
Louisiana Declares Cyber State of Emergency
The governor of Louisiana has declared a cybersecurity state of emergency after a series of attacks on school districts.
Facebook Plans Don't Include End-to-End Encryption
Unsurprisingly, Facebook’s messaging apps won’t have true end-to-end encryption, with messages scanned before being encrypted.
In Facebook’s vision, the actual end-to-end encryption client itself such as WhatsApp will include embedded content moderation and blacklist filtering algorithms. These algorithms will be continually updated from a central cloud service, but will run locally on the user’s device, scanning each cleartext message before it is sent and each encrypted message after it is decrypted.
The company even noted that when it detects violations it will need to quietly stream a copy of the formerly encrypted content back to its central servers to analyze further, even if the user objects, acting as true wiretapping service.
Unlike Forbes‘ clickbait headline, the “encryption debate” certainly isn’t over or dead. Now it’s about trying to convince the government that encryption backdoors don’t work. There are also plenty of Facebook alternatives.
Aventura Mall Apple Store Opens August 10
The Aventura Apple store will open in South Florida on August 10, bringing South Floridian design features and 344 jobs.
YouTube Union Joins With EU Trade Union IG Metall
The YouTubers Union has joined with IG Metall, Germany’s biggest union and Europe’s biggest trade union. Together they created a venture called FairTube.
“We aren’t demanding things that cut into profits or are unrealistic. We want fairness. We want transparency. We want to be treated like partners. And we want personal communication instead of anonymous communication,” Sprave told Motherboard.
In a video announcing the move, IG Metall’s Vice President Christiane Benner, Sprave said that the partnership meant “a completely new time begins. It is no longer the case that we are helpless against Youtube. With the IG Metall, we have a strong, strong partner.” Benner added, “We know from experience that together we can achieve a lot.”
DOJ Approves T-Mobile, Sprint Merger
The U.S. Department of Justice has approved the T-Mobile-Sprint merger, but a lawsuit from 13 state attorneys is currently pending.
The merger can’t be finalized however until a lawsuit from 13 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia is concluded. A trial date is set for Oct. 7, though that date could be pushed as late as Dec. 9.
It’s also possible that the case could be settled out of court, since it revolves around a lack of competition in the national wireless space. With Dish being propped up as a replacement for Sprint, there may not be reason to continue.
Trump Tweets Mac Pro Tariff Exemption Won't Happen
Apple had asked the White House for a Mac Pro tariff exemption, but President Trump tweeted today that it won’t happen.
Trump has said that exemptions are available only to companies that can demonstrate they had no other manufacturing option or show the tariffs would cause “severe economic harm.” In his Friday tweet, he again championed products made in the United States.
The tariffs are 25% on certain parts, which means that customers might be footing the bill.
Apple Music Free Trial Might Get Reduced to One Month
On Apple’s accessories website, an Apple Music free trial banner was offering one month instead of three. But Andrew still sees three.
Here's How to Watch the Fortnite World Cup Finals
If you didn’t know that Fortnite World Cup Finals was a thing, don’t worry because I didn’t either. But if you’re interested, Melissa Locker tells us how to watch it.
Over the course of three days this week (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), the world’s most elite Fortnite players will be competing in front of a live audience at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Duos final is set for Saturday with 50 teams of two competing, while Sunday features the Solo competition, where 100 players will battle it out over the course of six matches, with points awarded for match placement and number of kills. Winners of the Solo and Duo finals will receive $3 million each.
CBS All Access Will Come to Apple TV Channels Next Week
In a tweet that has since been seemingly deleted, CBS All Access announced that it will be coming to Apple TV Channels next week.