Tag: iphones

iOS 16.6.1 Released With Security Fixes; Vulnerability Used to Infect iPhone with Pegasus Spyware: Researchers

Researchers at digital watchdog group Citizen Lab said on Thursday they found spyware they linked to Israeli firm NSO that exploited a newly discovered flaw in Apple devices. While inspecting the Apple device of an employee of a Washington-based civil society group last week, Citizen Lab said it found the flaw had been used to infect the device with NSO’s Pegasus spyware, it said in a statement.

“This shows that civil society is once again serving as the early warning system about really sophisticated attacks,” said John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at Citizen Lab, which is based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Citizen Lab did not provide further details on the affected individual or the organization.

The flaw allowed the compromise of iPhones running the latest version of iOS (16.6) without any interaction from the victim, the digital watchdog said.

Apple issued new updates on its devices after investigating the flaws reported by Citizen Lab. An Apple spokesperson said it had no further comment, while Citizen Lab urged consumers to update their devices.

An NSO spokesperson said it did not have any immediate comment on the Citizen Lab research.

The Israeli firm has been blacklisted by the US government since 2021 for alleged abuses, including surveillance of government officials and journalists. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023  

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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iPhones, iPads Use Banned for Work Purposes in Russian Military: Report

Russia’s ministry of digital development has banned employees from using Apple iPhones and iPads for work purposes, Interfax news agency reported on Friday citing the minister, Maksut Shadaev.

“A ban is imposed on using (Apple) mobile devices — smartphones and tablets — to access work applications and work email exchange,” he told reporters at a digital conference, the agency said.

“It’s allowed to use iPhones for personal needs,” Shadaev said.

The ministry issued the ban two months after claims by the Russian main domestic security service, the FSB, that several thousands Apple devices were compromised as a result of an espionage operation by the US.

Apple denied the allegations. The US. National Security Agency, which the FSB said cooperated with Apple, declined to comment on the claims at the time.

Meanwhile, Apple was recently fined by a Russian court for not deleting “inaccurate” content about what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. 

Apple, on the other hand, paused all product sales in Russia shortly after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and limited its Apple Pay service in Russia.

Moscow has clashed with Big Tech for years over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that escalated after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine. 

Russia has also fined several other tech companies, including Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and Wikimedia, which has been fined several times and has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well-sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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London Court Dismisses Apple’s Appeal in Dispute With Optis, Says iPhone and iPad Models Infringed 4G Patents

Apple infringed two telecommunications patents used in devices including iPhones and iPads, London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, dismissing the tech giant’s appeal in a long-running dispute with a US patent holder.

Texas-based Optis Cellular Technology sued Apple in 2019 over its use of patents which Optis says are essential to certain technological standards, such as 4G.

London’s High Court ruled last year that two of Optis’ 4G patents were so-called standard essential patents and that Apple had infringed them.

Apple appealed against that decision in May, arguing that the two patents in issue were not essential to 4G standards and that it had not infringed the patents.

But its challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeal, with Judge Colin Birss saying in a written ruling that the High Court was “right to reject (Apple’s) argument for non-infringement” and on the issue of the patents being essential.

Apple and Optis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday’s ruling is the latest decision in the legal battle between Apple and Optis, which began in 2019 and has prompted six separate trials and several appellate hearings in Britain alone.

The Court of Appeal last month upheld an appeal by Optis against an earlier decision to revoke two other 4G-related patents, following a ruling in October that Optis is entitled to an injunction to stop Apple infringing its patents before a court has ruled on the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms of use.

Apple was granted permission earlier this year to appeal against the October ruling. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple Supplier Foxconn to Start iPhone Production in Bengaluru Plant by April 2024

Apple supplier Foxconn will start manufacturing iPhones in the southern Indian state of Karnataka by April 2024, the state government said on Thursday.

The land for the factory would be handed over to Foxconn by July 1, the government said, adding that the project, valued at Rs. 130 billion, is expected to create around 50,000 jobs.

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, has set a target of manufacturing 20 million iPhones a year at the plant in Devanahalli, on the outskirts of the state capital and tech hub Bengaluru.

Apple has been shifting production away from China after the country’s strict COVID-related restrictions disrupted the production of new iPhones and other devices in the country. The tech giant is also looking to avoid a hit to its business due to tensions between Beijing and Washington.

A spokesperson for Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Meanwhile, some applicants including Vedanta Foxconn JV are expected to re-apply for government incentives under the modified semiconductor scheme opening from June 1, according to sources. Under the Modified Semicon India Programme, the government has increased the financial incentive of 50 percent of the project cost for companies, consortia, joint ventures for setting up semiconductor fabs in India of any node (wafer size).

In the old scheme, the incentives varied on the basis of wafer node size.

Similarly, a fiscal incentive of 50 percent of the project cost is available for setting up of display fabs of specified technologies in India, a statement said on Wednesday.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Apple Supplier Foxlink Said to Have Halted Production at an Indian Plant After Massive Fire

Apple supplier Foxlink has halted production at its assembly facility in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and evacuated 400 of its employees after a massive fire on Monday, two local government officials told Reuters.

Foxlink makes cables for iPhones. Roughly 50 percent of the machinery at the facility was damaged and half of the building collapsed, said J Ramanaiah, who leads the Disaster Response and Fire Services Department for Tirupati district in the state, where the incident occurred.

Management has estimated damage of Rs. 100 crore at the facility, he said, adding there were no casualties.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An official for Foxlink did not respond to calls.

Meanwhile, a few days back, the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that technology companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India, which has inspired more US companies to deepen ties in the technology sector with India. 

“I am eager to deepen out ties in the technology sector. The US is advancing an approach called “friendshoring” to bolster the resilience of our supply chains. We are doing this by strengthening integration with our many trusted trading partners-including India. We are seeing progress, as an example, technology companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India,” Yellen said. 

She made the comments while speaking at the roundtable with US and Indian Tech Business Leaders in Bengaluru in a meeting under the India’s G20 Presidency. 

In fact, Finland’s Salcomp, a supplier to US tech group Apple, was also reportedly looking to more than double its workforce in India to nearly 25,000 over the next 2-3 years, a company executive said earlier this month.

 

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Apple to Release New Lockdown Mode to Battle Spyware, Provide Extra Layer of Protection

Apple on Wednesday said it plans to release a new feature called Lockdown Mode this fall that aims to add a new layer of protection for human rights advocates, political dissidents and other targets of sophisticated hacking attacks.

The move comes after at least two Israeli firms have exploited flaws in Apple‘s software to remotely break into iPhones without the target needing to click or tap anything. NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus software that can carry out such attacks, has been sued by Apple and placed on a trade blacklist by US officials.

Lockdown Mode will come to Apple’s iPhones, iPads and Macs this fall and turning it on will block most attachments sent to the iPhone’s Messages app. Security researchers believe NSO Group exploited a flaw in how Apple handled message attachments. The new mode will also block wired connections to iPhones when they are locked. Israeli firm Cellebrite has used such manual connections to access iPhones.

Apple representatives said that they believe sophisticated attacks the new feature is designed to fight — called “zero click” hacking techniques — are still relatively rare and that most users will not need to active the new mode.

Spyware companies have argued they sell high-powered technology to help governments thwart national security threats. But human rights groups and journalists have repeatedly documented the use of spyware to attack civil society, undermine political opposition, and interfere with elections.

To help harden the new feature, Apple said it will pay up to $2 million (nearly Rs. 15 crore) for each flaw that security researchers can find in the new mode, which Apple representatives said was the highest such “bug bounty” offered in the industry.

Apple also said it is making a $10 million (nearly Rs. 80 crore) grant, plus any possible proceeds from its lawsuit against NSO Group, to groups that find, expose and work to prevent targeted hacking. Apple said the grant will go to the Dignity and Justice Fund established by the Ford Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

 

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Shopify Collaborates With Twitter to Help Merchants With Online Sale, Unveils 100 New Tools

Shopify has launched new tools to help its merchants sell to other businesses and on Twitter, as the Canadian tech giant attempts to shore up sales to counter a post-pandemic slowdown in online shopping.

More than a 100 new tools were unveiled on Wednesday, including ones to support its plans to push into business-to-business, for shoppers to connect their crypto wallets to a store and Apple‘s “Tap to Pay” feature on iPhones.

Shopify, which helps businesses set up their online stores, hit the jackpot during lockdowns as global brands and mom-and-pop stores alike turned to selling online directly to consumers while their shops were shut.

With the economy reopening, however, investors are starting to question Shopify’s future, sending the company’s stock down 76 percent this year and erasing a big chunk of its pandemic gains.

Shopify’s answer to the slowdown is expanding into the wholesale market, a far bigger avenue than direct-to-consumer and with “billions in untapped revenue”, according to President Harley Finkelstein.

Businesses are looking to move from direct-to-consumer to “connect-to-consumer”, which makes it easier for people to shop through social media platforms and pay using their phones, Finkelstein said in an interview.

“This is the next phase of retail… In many ways, shopping has become a vote with your wallet to support that brand… And that’s what I think connect-to-consumer is all about,” he said.

The post-pandemic world has thrown up challenges for Amazon as well, Shopify’s biggest rival, as it fields massive losses after building more warehouses than needed during the boom.

In a podcast earlier this month, long-time Shopify investor Mawer Investment Management’s Vijay Viswanathan said it was exiting the stock on concerns of slowing growth and competition. “The internet is getting crowded… It became harder and harder to justify the valuation.”

© Thomson Reuters 2022

Are affordable smartwatches worth it? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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iOS 16 Carries Built-In Unit Conversion in Messages, Notes, Calendar, More

iOS 16 was announced last week, and it certainly has much more to offer than what was previewed at the WWDC 2022. Now, a new report suggests that iOS 16 will have a built-in unit conversion on Messages, Notes, Mail, Calendar, and other apps. Through this, Apple users will be able to easily see conversions for units such as time zones, distance, currencies, and more. It’ll make it easier for users to have a conversation with an overseas friend.

The feature was first spotted by the editor-in-chief of MacStories, Federico Viticci, who shared it via a Tweet. The tweet and a report by 9to5 Mac say that the built-in unit conversion feature in iOS 16 update will be available everywhere, including the Messages app on Apple iPhones.

The built-in unit conversion feature works for currencies, weight, volume, distance, and time zones in Apple phones running iOS 16. In fact, this feature is said to be functional across all Apple apps. Also, this feature will always show the user’s time zone, currency, or temperature preferences, as per the report.

Apple will release a public beta version of iOS 16 next month, and users can avail of the built-in unit conversion feature on their iPhones.

Apart from this, recently, Apple has also updated the Nearby Interaction framework on iOS 16 to integrate the ultra-wideband (UWB) enabling U1 chip with ARKit — the software suite meant to enable immersive experiences. And separately, iOS 16 is found to allow users to delete an additional list of preloaded apps, including Clock, Find My, and Health.

iOS 16 also features a Copy-Paste Photo Edits feature, in which a user will be able to copy the edits made on a photo and paste them to another photo. From texts to all the filters applied, every edit on the picture can be copied.



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