Apple tasted the first huge botnet attack

Last week Apple got its first taste of what Microsoft security goes through on a daily basis and its response was a big, fat fail.

Apple tried to take out the security researcher who told Apple it had a security problem, reports Forbes.

A Russian antivirus company, Dr. Web, said it had discovered a Mac botnet built oon malware known as the Flashback trojan. Dr. Web had found 600,000 infected Macs in the botnet, including a couple hundred in Cupertino, CA, home to Apple headquarters, reports Ars Technica. That's the biggest Mac botnet ever discovered.

source from Business Insider | read more at http://read.bi/I2319r

Microsoft Office & Adobe Reader is now on your iPad

In January CloudOn launched its iPad app allowing you to access and work with Microsoft Office documents directly on your iPad, saving those documents to DropBox. Tuesday, the company took its app a step further, adding support for Adobe Reader as well as the ability to also store and access files on Box.

CloudOn gives you access to all of Microsoft Office’s features, including the ability to track changes in Word documents, pivot tables in Excel, or view PowerPoint presentations in full presentation mode. You can also use the app to display, edit or create charts, insert formulas, change formatting, spell check, or insert comments into any Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document. With the update, documents you work with in CloudOn can also now be emailed to others as attachments without ever leaving the app.

Documents you work on are saved and synced from DropBox or now, Box. If you currently have a Box or Dropbox account you can log in directly from the all, and open, edit, share, or auto save documents. CloudOn doesn’t store any of your content on its servers, making the service in many ways more secure than some competing services.

Tuesday’s update adds support for Adobe Reader, something that wasn’t available in the initial release of the app. The app can read everything from simple forms to complex 3-D documents, and users have access to a universal viewer for any file, ranging from raw Photoshop images to everyday image files, including: PNG, JPEG and GIF.

source from Mashable | read more at http://on.mash.to/I1dfGY

Faulty Wi-Fi on the New (3rd Gen) iPad

According to a leaked internal memo discovered by 9to5Mac, Apple Stores in the United States are being told to exchange faulty devices and then to send them in for testing. Apple, it seems, believes there is indeed a real issue here.

source from RedmondPie | read more at http://bit.ly/HghTih

iPhone 5 Coming in June?

According to a Foxconn recruiter, we’ll see a new iPhone in June of this year.

The recruiter suggested the iPhone would be headed our way this summer in an interview with TV Tokyo’s “World Business Satellite” broadcast Monday.

In the interview, a reporter asked the recruiter how many people the company was looking to hire, and he answered “We’re looking for 18,000 employees … for the fifth-generation phone.”

The reporter went on to clarify that the recruiter was talking about the iPhone 5, and the recruiter added that the next generation of the handset will come out in June.

The iPhone 5 — or, if Apple maintains the naming scheme it started with the iPad, the “new iPhone” — will actually be the 6th iPhone released by the company.

source from Mashable | read more at http://on.mash.to/HembML

iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3? Which one is your call?

Apple Pulls Fake $9.99 iOS Jailbreak App From The App Store

Many of the millions of iPhone, iPod, and iPod touch users across the globe are keenly awaiting progress on that elusive untethered jailbreak for iOS 5. With a little time and patience, we wait in hope that the hackers will find the solution, allowing iDevice users – including those of the brand new, but as-yet un-jailbroken iPhone 4S – and iPad 2 – to enjoy free reign.

Unfortunately, though, some unscrupulous individuals have decided to capitalize on that anticipation by releasing an app onto the App Store (iTunes link – now removed) entitled "Jailbreak", which promises to jailbreak devices on "all firmware versions" - from 3.0 to the very latest iOS 5 for the extortionate price of $9.99.

Those of you who regularly follow us here at Redmond Pie will know that’s not actually possible, but let’s face it, not everyone reads tech blogs on a frequent basis, thus could easily be fooled into parting with their hard earned dollars. Although you and I wouldn’t pay to jailbreak – since it’s always been a free procedure (and always will be) – that doesn’t mean that others would not.

Thankfully, Apple has taken the app down, which is indeed just a game as opposed to a jailbreaking tool.

Whoever developed it must be either really brazen, incredibly stupid, or a mixture of the two. It’s rather surprising that the Cupertino company even allowed it to pass through its filter of acceptable content. Was it just an oversight, or did Apple just let it slide through?

Such behavior doesn’t exactly help to calm what can often be an expectant and impatient collective of users keen to utilize the jailbroken freedom they’ve become accustomed to on previous firmware versions.

The Chronic Dev-Team with pod2g, and MuscleNerd of iPhone Dev-Team are thought to be the main operating sect in the ongoing effort to produce a iOS 5 jailbreak of similar – maybe even higher significance to the JailbreakMe 3.0 tool released by Comex a few months back – an unbelievably easy process which dragged the iPad 2 over to the Dark Side, kicking and screaming.


source: Redmond Pie

*Note: The contetns above doesn't belongs to the author

iPhone 5 Existed As A Prototype, Was Scrapped Before iPhone 4S Announcement [REPORT]

Despite countless rumors and cases floating around for the iPhone 5, Apple surprised everyone at their “Let’s Talk iPhone” event with the same-old-design iPhone 4S.

If all the previous reports we’ve covered here at Redmond Pie are to be believed then the iPhone 5 was all set to be a done deal, and would’ve been a true successor to the iPhone 4, bringing an all-new-design and a bunch of other anticipated features to the roster.

The iPhone 4S was released instead, which according to some; is a mere upgrade over the iPhone 4 itself. And we do agree with all those who are thinking in that direction; apart from a dual core processor and a better camera, and oh, Siri, we didn’t get that much to cherish or play around with.

According to a new report which was published by Business Insider a while back, the iPhone 5 was real, and according to their trusted source, which Business Insider claims to have ‘been right about future Apple products in the past’ says that the iPhone 5 did not go into production, and the said device was rather ‘scrapped’ a few months before the iPhone 4S was officially unveiled to the world by Apple. And to set fire to the whole ordeal, the iPhone 5 prototype existed and their source got to play around with it for a good amount of time. Surprised? We are too.

Our source said that Apple engineers he knows thought until about three months before the iPhone 4S was released, that a new fully re-designed iPhone was going to be Apple’s next big announcement.

This source said that he spent about two weeks with one prototype version of this phone.

Keeping in mind all of the previous rumors and reports which we’ve crossed, covered or dissected; we also have mixed opinions whether the iPhone 5 was real or not. Regardless of all that, Business Insider sums it up in an evasive fashion:

We have not been able to verify what he told us with a second source.  So we’re still treating these details as rumors. You should probably still read this post with a nice fat dose of salt.

The major design changes we might have seen in the iPhone 5 would be the all-time-famous tear drop design, and our favorite; a larger screen coupled with a gesture based home button. All the aforementioned features clearly didn’t land in on the iPhone 4S.

According to another report which we covered a while back, its being said that Steve Jobs’ last project which he worked on before dying wasn’t the iPhone 4S, instead it was the iPhone 5. So, is Apple leaving the big surprise for the year to come? Maybe.

source: Redmond Pie

*Note: The contents above doesn't belongs to the author

iOS upgrade makes the devices battery life even worst?

If you've experienced runaway battery suckage on your brand-spanking-new iPhone 4S, you won't be alone if you're still cursing your Cupertian smartphone after updating to Apple's supposed battery-fixing iOS 5.0.1.

Apple admitted battery-life problems with the iPhone 4S and the new iOS 5 earlier this month, and released the iOS 5.0.1 update on Thursday.

Many users, however, report that the fix either didn't help or made matters worse. Witness, for example, discussion threads on Apple's support forums with titles such as "5.0.1 update--even worse battery life", "iOS 5.1 - Made my iPhone 4S battery performance worse!", and the rather ungrammatical "Not so Happy with the iOS 5.01 Upgrade! It gets WORST :(".

Even the thread entitled "iOS 5.01 fixes battery issues" contains comments such as "Yesterday I upgraded to 5.0.1 and now battery life is SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE," "is there any way to go back to IOS5.0.0??!!!," and "I'd highly recommend that anyone who has acceptable battery life not upgrade."

The fact that some iPhone 4S users presumably had their battery problems fixed by the iOS 5.0.1 upgrade, some have not, and some report that their problems have become worse, points to the possibility that the problem may be more hardware-related – which would, of course, be a far more expensive problem for Apple to address than a simple iOS upgrade.

But remembering how Apple dismissed the iPhone 4's "Antennagate" controversy, we don't see a mass recall in the offing – and to be fair, the fact that millions of iPhone 4S users are not complaining would argue that a user-by-user replacement program would make far better business sense.

source: The Register

*Note: The contents above doesn't belongs to the author

iOS 5.0.1 arrives with battery fix problems

The updates comes a little more than a week after Apple first acknowledged that some users were, in fact, running into problems with battery life after upgrading to the newer version of iOS. In conjunction with that, the company released a beta version of the software for developers to test. A second beta of that software arrived a day and a half later.

Apple has not copped to any specific reason as to why some users were experiencing shorter than usual battery life as part of iOS 5. Originally it was believed to be related to some of the hardware changes with the iPhone 4S, including a move to a dual-core processor, though some iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users were experiencing issues as well.

Not included in the update are two recently discovered, though for now inaccessible iOS features. They include a panorama mode in Apple's camera application that's able to take panoramic shots by sweeping the camera side to side, as well as a new auto-correct menu in the keyboard. Both of those features are tucked away within the depths of the software, but were pulled out by developers this week.

Full change log below:


Fixes bugs affecting battery life

Adds Multitasking Gestures for original iPad

Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud

Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

source: CNet

Steve Jobs Was Right About Flash All Along: Adobe To Give Up Support On Android And PlayBook

According to a report published earlier today, Adobe will be pulling support for Flash on browsers for mobile devices.

The news comes from ZDNet – a business and technology news website – in the form of a report in which they cite “sources close to Adobe” who claim that they have been briefed on the company’s future plans. The most notable bit about these “plans” being how Adobe is reportedly looking to stop further development of Flash on browsers for mobile devices such as Android and PlayBook.

The sources sent a “forthcoming announcement” to ZDNet in which Adobe states that their focus from now on would be on their newer AIR technology instead of Flash and that Flash will no longer be adapted for browsers on new mobile devices or new OS versions. This is while current Flash for Android and Blackberry Playbook configurations will continue to see bug fixes and security updates (but not new features).

read more at http://bit.ly/rVeI75

source: Redmond Pie

Apple to overhaul most products in 2012

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Apple plans to completely overhaul its product lineups, including iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air, in 2012 and is expected to finalize order volumes for key parts and components for the next-generation iPad in December, according to sources in the upstream supply chain.

As far as timing goes, Digitimes offers that Apple will roll out a new iPad in March, with new versions of the iPhone and iMac coming in "the second half of 2012."

read more at http://cnet.co/uvyRCt

source, Digitimes, CNet

The iPad 2 cost £5,000,000 with Gold and T-Rex Bone

The another news freak me out in this early morning.

The iPad 2 Gold History is probably the most extreme gadget you can buy. Not only is it covered head to gleaming toe in two kilos of 24-carat gold and 12.5 carats of diamonds - the precious stone round the bezel is mixed with crushed-up shavings from a fossilised T-Rex. 

Only two of the £5,000,000 gadgets will be made, and if you've got the cash, you should hurry, as one has already sold to an undisclosed customer.

read more at http://goo.gl/afgwL

source: The UK Mail

iPhone thieves, you're busted!

With the technology from Apple as well as third-party security apps, the owner of the device will have a better chance of catching the malicious guys and get back the device.

According to CNET, apps such as iGotYa can help to snap photos of whoever is in possession of the phone.  But sometimes, the police might grab innocent people in the end.

read more at http://cnet.co/sZzCak

source: CNET

Siri hacked and runs perfectly on iPhone 4 and iPod Touch

Hey Apple geeks! Are you planning to change your phone to iPhone 4s just simply because of the latest Siri features?

A great news for iPhone 4 and iPod Touch users, where you doesn't need to change your phone and just need to jailbreak your phone to get the Siri service.  And of course, it will works slightly slower than iPhone 4s because of the new hardware has been seamlessly use on the latest iPhone.

According to 9TO5Mac, everything is on the testing phase and they have fully documented.  Things will be come when its done. Let's stay and see how alright?

video: http://bit.ly/rtl4Ys

source: 9TO5Mac

Apple's tongue-tied Siri faces 'Singlish' rival

SINGAPORE'S SingTel has developed an application to rival the voice-activated Siri on the iPhone 4S that is sure to go down well in the island state - because it can understand "Singlish".

When Apple unveiled its latest handset earlier this month most of the talk was about Siri, which can give directions or even advice to users simply by asking a question into the speaker.

However, since the new phone went on sale there have been numerous reports of Siri either responding with a completely irrelevant answer or simply saying it does not understand.

YouTube videos of Siri misinterpreting the heavily accented words of iPhone 4S users in Japan - the first Asian country to get the device on October 14 - have been widely circulated on the Internet.

But Singapore Telecom (SingTel) says its new app, DeF!ND, will help Singaporeans who use "Singlish" - a localised form of English with words borrowed from Asian languages - avoid such problems.

read more at techcentral.my

source: Tech Central

iPad is on the Space, Soonnnnnnnn!

NASA will be streaming the live launch of a Russian Progress cargo spaceship this Saturday at 11pm BST, which will be carrying the precious cargo of food, oxygen, water and Apple iPads.

The launch is scheduled for 5:11am CDT from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and will be broadcast on NASA TV.

In amongst all the necessary stuff the current International Space Station crew needs will be the first fondleslabs in space.

"The Russians are flying two iPads on the next Progress. They're going to be used for entertainment purposes only," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told collectspace.com on Tuesday.

Astronauts and cosmonauts already have Apple iPods and an iPhone on board the space station, as well as laptops, but these will be the first tablets.

read more at http://bit.ly/tihdbD

HP to Stay in PC Business, Apple Sales Spike in Asia

Mid of August 2011, HP announced to the world that they planned to spin off PC business.  According to Mashable Tech, newly minted HP CEO Meg Whitman said that the company now plans to keep its PC business rather than spinning it off. She also said the company would continue to compete in the tablet market.

Apple’s net sales in the Asia-Pacific region have risen to $14.3 billion in 2011, up 174% from the same period a year ago.

Original Article: http://on.mash.to/vTwIdW

Samsung Overtakes Apple to Win Smartphone Crown

According to CNET, the smartphone market shares has been controlled by few different giant company in the world.  The statistics are as follows. 

Samsung = 27.8%     Apple = 17.1%     

Nokia = 16.8%     Others = 38.3%

Full Article: http://cnet.co/sDQTsm

Bypass iPad 2 Passcode Within 5 Seconds

The iPad 2 which running with iOS5 can be easily bypass by the smart cover with just few simple steps.  In fact, any cover with auto lock will do.

Original Video: http://bit.ly/rARRVw

Why Most of Them Are Lass?

To most owners of the new iPhone, the voice-activated feature called Siri is more than a virtual "assistant" who can help schedule appointments, find a good nearby pizza or tell you if it's going to rain.

She's also a she.

Siri answers questions in a part-human, part-robot voice that's deep, briskly efficient and distinctly female. (At least in the U.S. and four other countries. In France and the UK, Siri is male.)

People describe the app using female pronouns. Her gender has even prompted some users to flood blogs and online forums with sexually suggestive questions for Siri such as "What are you wearing?" (Siri's baffled response: "Why do people keep asking me this?")

The fuss over Siri's sex also raises a larger question: From voice-mail systems to GPS devices to Siri and beyond, why are so many computerized voices female?

One answer may lie in biology. Scientific studies have shown that people generally find women's voices more pleasing than men's.

"It's much easier to find a female voice that everyone likes than a male voice that everyone likes," said Stanford University Professor Clifford Nass, author of "The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships." "It's a well-established phenomenon that the human brain is developed to like female voices."

Original Article: http://bit.ly/pLBOJG

New Mac Trojan horse disables Apple's automatic malware updates

F-Secure has reported on a new, scarier-than-usual Mac Trojan horse. The good news is that you can only get infected if you double-click on a rogue file masquerading as a Flash installer. The bad news is that if you do fall victim to the Trojan, it disables your Mac’s automatic malware definition updates. 

F-Secure has dubbed the new pest Trojan-Downloader:OSX/Flashback.C; Macworld reported on a previous version of the malware back in September. A Trojan horse works by fooling you into running it; in this case, Flashback disguises itself as an installer package for Flash Player. 

The earlier incarnation of the Flashback Trojan horse sent information about your Mac back to a remote server, which was bad enough, but this new version disables the security definition updating mechanism Apple first introduced in Snow Leopard back in May; the same malware protection is included in Lion, too. 

Original Article: http://macw.us/mY4iNp