Spark Says ‘No Breach or Data Leak’ After Users Get Locked Out of Apple IDs

Last night a few users began reporting that their Apple IDs had been compromised, causing them to be locked out of their accounts. Recovering and password resets worked for a handful of Apple IDs, but it was still unclear overnight what might have been happening to cause the small breach in Apple’s otherwise secure universal log-in system.

This morning speculation came to a close as third-party email client Spark confirmed that an upgrade to faster servers for iCloud users on the platform triggered the issue and forced password resets in a collection of Apple IDs. The company mentioned that it has been preparing to launch Spark for Mac, which was the reason for the faster server upgrade, but now promises that “there’s NO breach or data leak” that users have to worry about.

Readdle, the creators of Spark, reiterated what it tweeted out throughout the morning in a post on Reddit.

Hello guys,

Thank you for the feedback and comments! Our team has been investigating this for a few hours. What we know so far: 1. There’s no breach or data leak according to our investigation. 2. The new, faster AWS server logic might have triggered iCloud security algos. We are already working with Apple to learn more details. We are doing some server side work to make Spark much faster, and to make it ready for the Mac version, which is already in Alpha. We will keep you updated once we have more news from Apple side.

Thank you.

As some users have noted, the security problem didn’t hit all Spark users who use the service with their iCloud account. The company said that it’s working with Apple to get the issue fixed as soon as possible, but it seems that users affected by the security lockouts need not worry about malicious attempts at entry into their private Apple ID at least. If Readdle posts any more updates on its fix for the problem, we’ll update this story as well.

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Xiaomi to offer phones for just ₹1 for its second anniversary in India

Xiaomi is all set to kick off a three-day promotion to celebrate its second anniversary in India. The sale is kicking off on July 20, and will feature discounts, flash sales where customers will be able to pick up its phones and accessories for just ₹1, and availability of additional color options for the Mi 5.

Here’s a list of the phones and accessories that will be up for grabs for just ₹1:

• July 20: 10 Xiaomi Mi 5 and 100 20000mAh Mi Power Bank
• July 21: 10 Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and 100 Mi Band
• July 22: 10 Xiaomi Mi Max and 100 Mi Bluetooth speakers

The flash sales will kick off at 2 p.m. on each day. The festivities kick off on July 20. We’ll bring you all the details once the sale goes live.

Want to get in on the action right now? Xiaomi is giving away up a crore worth of coupons and handsets for those playing this game.

See at Xiaomi

Galaxy Note 7 clears the FCC

Samsung is all set to unveil the Galaxy Note 7 on August 2. Ahead of its debut, the phone has undergone certification at the FCC, revealing model numbers for the carrier-branded variants.

The certification authority has processed SM-N930V, SM-N930A, SM-N930P, SM-N930T, SM-N930R4 and the SM-N930W8, indicating carrier editions for Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Details regarding the phone are sketchy, but it is heavily rumored to feature an iris scanner, based on images leaked on Weibo recently:

The phone is likely to be powered by Qualcomm’s recently-announced Snapdragon 821, and is said to offer 6GB of RAM. There should be a variant powered by Samsung’s in-house Exynos SoC, which will be available internationally. Check out our preview for more on Samsung’s upcoming flagship.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 preview

Pokémon Go is now available in Italy, Spain, and Portugal

Pokémon Go is continuing its international availability, with the game heading to the Play Store in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The game landed in Germany earlier this week, followed by availability in the U.K. yesterday.

Here’s the official Play Store link for the game:

Pokémon Go on the Play Store

Don’t understand what all the fuss is about? We’ve got you covered. Be sure to take a look at our extensive coverage of the title.

Pokémon Go

• Join our Pokémon Go forums!
• How to deal with GPS errors in-game
• Which team should you choose?
• How to play without killing your battery
• The Ultimate Pokémon Go Game Guide!

Gear S2 update brings Contacts app, automatic sleep tracking and more

Samsung is currently pushing out a major update for the Gear S2, bringing a number of new features to the watch. The update is available for both the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic, bringing the same changes to both. With new additions like automatic sleep tracking, Contacts app, social features and more, you’ll want to grab this update now.

The update (as spotted by SamMobile) brings a number of new features to the Gear S2. Some of them include:

• Adds a new watch face named My Photo
• Displays life index in Weather
• Adds social networking sharing and automatic measurement features for Sleep
• Adds Contacts app and widget
• Downloads the recommended apps and watch faces directly from Gear S2

The update weighs in at around 61MB, so it shouldn’t take too long to download and install. Once you get it installed and set up, be sure to let us know what you think of the update.

UK’s giffgaff slashes prices of Galaxy S7, Huawei P9, Xperia X, and more

UK MVNO giffgaff is discounting a series of phones, including the Galaxy S7, Huawei P9, and more. The deals are available on unlocked options as well as monthly plans.

Here’s what’s on sale right now:

• Samsung Galaxy S7 – £499 (monthly plans from £23.52) – down from £539
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact – £279 (monthly plans from £12.60) – down from £299
• Huawei P9 Lite – £199 (monthly from £8.64) – down from £239
• Huawei P9 – £379 (monthly from £17.56)
• Sony Xperia X – £449 (monthly from £31.45)
• Sony Xperia XA – £219 (monthly from £9.63) – down from £239
• Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 – £299 (monthly from £13.60) – down from £309

The deals are valid until August 3. Anyone interested?

Help! Pokemon Go isn’t working: How to fix common Pokemon Go problems

Help! Pokemon Go isn’t working – what is wrong with it? 

With every craze comes a backlash, when people can’t get their fix of the action. For something the size of Pokemon Go – which by all accounts has taken over the world – there are a lot of people who might be struggling to play, load or get connected. 

We played Pokemon Go a lot before it officially launched, but since its official release, the gaming experience has actually got worse. 

Here’s a run-down of some of the common problems with Pokemon Go and what you might be able to do about it. 

1. My Trainer is just walking on the spot

You might be playing the game and notice your Trainer is just walking on the spot and nothing seems to be happening. Firstly, tap the Poke Ball at the bottom of the screen to access the menu. If the menu doesn’t open, the app has crashed. 

Close the app and restart it – on Android, tap the “recent apps” and swipe the app away. On iPhone, double tap the home button and swipe up. Then reopen the app and resume playing, otherwise you might be missing those steps and all the action, and just draining battery.

2. Pokemon Go is slow and crashes a lot

Are you using the latest version of the app? The network EE in the UK told us that 350,000 people were playing Pokemon Go on just one network before the game had even launched. 

If you were one of those who installed early, make sure you’ve updated your app to the latest release version if you can. For all those in the UK, for example, head into your app store, search for Pokemon Go and hit update. For others, it’s likely to be server connection problems, just as in 1 above.

Pocket-lint

3. I keep seeing the spinning Pokemon ball

If you keep seeing a spinning symbol in the top left of your screen, that means that your phone is trying to connect to the Pokemon Go servers. The demand on the servers due to the game’s popularity has been really high, and server connection issues account for most of the problems with Pokemon Go. 

You can either wait – sometimes it will only be a few seconds – and then start playing again. Or you might find the app becomes unresponsive and it crashes, as above in point 1, so restart the app again. 

4. Pokemon Go says GPS signal not found

GPS is needed to tell the Pokemon Go app where you are. It tracks your movement for hatching eggs as well as keeping you in the right place on the map. When you open the game, it’s usual to see “GPS signal not found” for a brief moment, before it locates you.

If that’s on all the time, check that your phone has “location” switched on. On some phones you can switch this off manually and that will stop you playing the game. Location is also drawn from your data connection, so you’ll need to be connected to a network.

5. Pokemon Go says No internet connectivity

If you get the “no internet connectivity” message across the top of your phone, that’s the fault of your phone or network, not Pokemon Go itself. Check the obvious things – that your phone isn’t in flight mode, that data is turned on, and that you haven’t run out of data. 

Pokemon Go doesn’t use a lot of data, but for those with a limited data package, you could easily run out after a lot of playing.

Pocket-lint

6. Pokemon Go freezes mid catch, or mid battle

The most exciting parts of Pokemon Go are when you’re trying to catch a rare Pokemon, or when you’re in the final stages of battling at a Gym. It’s also a point that’s prone to failure, because it’s so dependent on a good connection to the server.

Often the app becomes unresponsive when catching a Pokemon because of server connection issues. If the app stops responding – your Poke Ball isn’t moving and there’s no longer a symbol telling you it’s trying to connect – you’ll have to restart the app as in point 1. If you’re lucky, the Pokemon you were trying to catch might still be there. 

The same applies to battles. We’ve lost battles for the same reason, having to wait for the server to connect. You can also try turning off the data connection and back on again, to see if that jolts it back into life. 

7. My Pokemon eggs are not hatching, or vanish

To hatch a Pokemon egg you have to put them into an incubator and walk. When you’ve covered the distance needed, that egg will hatch, giving you a new Pokemon. However, you have to have the app open for the distance to count. 

If your egg vanishes, it might have hatched, but you didn’t get the notification because of server issues or app crashes. Check your Pokemon list, and search by “recent” – you’ll see any recent additions there. We hatched Electabuzz without even knowing it had happened. 

Pocket-lint

8. Pokemon Go is killing my battery

Pokemon Go uses your phone to the max. It wants the screen on, data connected and regular GPS points, as well as the AR view through the camera. If you’re walking around for an hour with the screen on, that will kill the battery. It’s part of the game, and part of having a smartphone, so it’s completely normal. 

You can try reducing the brightness, closing other apps that might be running in the background, or the safest bet, is to get a battery case or external battery to recharge your device so you can keep playing. 

9. Pokemon Go is not available in my country

Pokemon Go has had a phased roll-out, launching first in the US, New Zealand and Australia, more recently in Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and UK, but there’s a lot of the world that still doesn’t have it. If you can’t access it, then there is a way. 

We’ve detailed exactly what you need to do in a separate feature, so click through and get playing. 

• Can’t get Pokemon Go in your country? Here’s how to download it now

10. Pokemon Go won’t work on my phone

Pokemon Go, like other apps and games, needs specific minimum hardware to work properly. Here are the details of the supported devices:

Pokemon Go iPhone requirements: iPhone 5 or newer, iOS 8 or above. Jailbroken devices aren’t supported.

Pokemon Go Android requirements: Android 4.4 or above, 1280 x 720 pixels or more. Intel CPUs aren’t supported, although there has been some support in the latest app version.

11. Pokemon Go won’t open

If the app won’t open at all, or you open it and found you’ve been logged out, that’s caused by server issues – like a number of other problems on this list. All you can do is close the app and try again. 

If you’re logged out, don’t worry, when you sign back in, all your game progress will be there. 

12. Purchased items are not appearing

If you buy something with Coins and that doesn’t appear in your inventory, then you might have to try logging out of the app and back in again. If that doesn’t work, try restarting your device too.

We will continue to add to this list of problems and solutions as they arise. 

• Pokemon Go: How to play and other tips and tricks
• The Trials and Tribulations of a Pokemon Go Addict: Pokemon Go reviewed
• What is Pokemon Go and why is everyone talking about it? 
• Pokemon Go: Best, worst and craziest places people have found Pokemon
• London through the eyes of Pokemon Go
• Pokemon Go: 11 amazing, mind-boggling facts about the AR game
• Pokemon Go: How to catch Pikachu

iPhone 7 hands-on video shows Space Grey and Sliver handsets

An alleged hands-on video of the iPhone 7 rear casing has appeared online. It shows the Space Grey model and purports to reveal a couple of interesting bits and bobs.

For a start, it appears to substantiate other claims and rumours that Apple is ditching the 3.5mm headphone port for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and a much-rumoured iPhone 7 Pro.

Instead of the headphone jack, there is a second speaker grille, as widely reported elsewhere. The antenna band at the top and bottom has been truncated, as expected.

The camera module looks similar to other leaks too, with a much larger ring around the lens.

• Apple iPhone 7: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Apple iPhone 7 in pictures: Renders and leaked photos gallery

To be honest, even if these are genuine, off-the-production line iPhone 7 parts, there’s little else we can glean from the short video that hasn’t already been detailed elsewhere.

It was posted originally on Chinese website Weibo, then uploaded to YouTube where it has been viewed more than 55,000 times.

It’s unlikely we’ll see anything better than this on the build up to a likely September launch event, unless another Apple employee fancies leaving a prototype in a bar or something. But that will never happen surely?