Apple Supplier Wistron to Manufacture iPhones in India

Apple has agreed to a deal with the government of Indian state Karnataka to begin manufacturing iPhones in Bangalore, reports The Times of India. The Karnataka government announced that it had approved Apple’s proposal to “commence initial manufacturing operations” in a press release.

Apple’s desire to open a manufacturing hub in India started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began promoting his “Made in India” initiative. Apple manufacturing partner Wistron will make the iPhones in a new plant, reportedly beginning with the iPhone 8.

Over the past couple of months, Apple and Indian officials began narrowing down possibilities to manufacture products locally. Last month, Apple finally chose a Karnataka-based facility over competing bids from other Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. During negotiations, Apple was said to be seeking a number of tax and other incentives, including the possibility of long-term duty exemptions.

The government said it’s in discussions with Apple for other potential collaborations, but declined to say what they could be. The move is a major step for Apple as it looks to solidify its footing in the subcontinent so it can access India’s customer base.

Tag: India
Discuss this article in our forums

Lawsuit Alleges Apple Broke FaceTime on iOS 6 to Force iOS 7 Upgrades, Save Money

Christina Grace of California has filed a new class-action lawsuit that alleges Apple broke FaceTime in iOS 6 to force users to upgrade to iOS 7, reports AppleInsider. According to the lawsuit, Apple forced users to upgrade so it could avoid payments on a data deal with Akamai.

The class action found its genesis in internal Apple documents and emails disclosed in the VirnetX patent infringement lawsuit, which eventually ended in Apple paying $302 million after a retrial. Apple used two connection methods when launching FaceTime in 2010: a peer-to-peer method that created a direct connection between two iPhones and a relay method that used data servers from Akamai.

When Apple’s peer-to-peer FaceTime technology was found to infringe on VirnetX’s patents in 2012, Apple began to shift toward Akamai’s servers to handle iPhone-to-iPhone connections. A year later, Apple was paying $50 million in fees to Akamai, according to testimony from the VirnetX trial. The class-action lawsuit, pointing to an internal email titled “Ways to Reduce Relay Usage,” alleges that the growing fees were beginning to bother Apple executives.

Apple eventually solved the problem by creating new peer-to-peer technology that would debut in iOS 7. The class-action lawsuit, however, alleges that Apple created a fake bug that caused a digital certificate to prematurely expire on April 16, 2014, breaking FaceTime on iOS 6. Breaking FaceTime on iOS 6, the lawsuit claims, would allow Apple to save money on users who did not upgrade to iOS 7.

At the time, Apple recognized the bug, publishing a support document saying that users who were having FaceTime connectivity problems after April 16, 2014 could update to the latest software to fix the issue. The same support document eventually removed the date “April 16, 2014,” according to AppleInsider.

The lawsuit later points to an internal Apple email chain in which an engineering manager mentions that they were looking at the Akamai contract for the upcoming year and understood that Apple “did something” to reduce usage of Akamai’s services. Another engineer responded by pointing out iOS 6 leaned a lot on Akamai’s services and that Apple “broke iOS 6” and the only way to fix FaceTime was to upgrade to iOS 7.

Apple’s developer page pegged iOS 7 adoption at 87 percent on April 7, 2014, nearly 10 days before Apple allegedly broke iOS 6. The lawsuit claims that forcing iPhone 4s and 4 users to upgrade to iOS 7 was harmful to them because the software would allegedly crash more and run more slowly.

The lawsuit is seeking undisclosed damages and to prove Apple violated California’s unfair competition law.

Tags: lawsuit, FaceTime, VirnetX
Discuss this article in our forums

Former Spotify Executive Hired to Lead Apple Music’s Label Relations

Apple has hired a former Spotify executive to head up its Apple Music label relations team, according to Business Insider.

An Apple spokesperson confirmed that former Spotify VP of content Steve Savoca has been recruited to oversee the music streaming service’s global label relations, which work out of New York.

Savoca is tasked with building relationships with smaller, independent labels, with a focus on the international scene, according to the report.

Savoca is said to have haven been one of Spotify’s first U.S. employees and worked for the Swedish streaming company for five years. Prior to that, he held senior digital and marketing roles roles at Domino Records, Zomba Label Group, and London-Sire.

Savoca is a musician himself, and played drums with a band called the Werefrogs during the 1990s, according to Billboard. He serves on the board of directors of the Music Business Association (formerly NARM) and previously sat on the board at Merlin.

In December 2016, Apple’s Eddy Cue revealed that Apple Music has over 20 million paid subscribers. In October, Spotify said it had 40 million subscribers. Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine recently spoke of the company’s desire to make Apple Music more than just a music streaming service, with “an entire pop cultural experience” planned that takes in original content including TV and audio.

Tags: Spotify, Apple Music
Discuss this article in our forums

Wi-Fi Router Issue Fix Coming For LG’s UltraFine 27-inch 5K Display

A recurring issue with the LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K display that causes glitches whenever the monitor is placed close to a router will be fixed, LG has announced.

Recently, reports began circulating online that LG’s 5K monitor – created in partnership with Apple – suffers from flickering and freezing when placed close to a wireless router, with this behavior sometimes causing connected Macs to also freeze and require a restart.

On Wednesday, an LG support person confirmed to ArsTechnica that the issue had been reported by a number of users and that it only seemed to occur with the company’s Apple-approved 5K monitors. LG has now publicly apologized for the glitch and says all new models made after February will not be susceptible to the problem.

Speaking today to Recode, an LG spokesperson said that the company will resolve the problem by inserting additional shielding into newly manufactured models, which should protect against the electromagnetic radiation from routers that is likely causing the issues.

“LG apologizes for this inconvenience and is committed to delivering the best quality products possible so all LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K displays manufactured after February 2017 will be fitted with enhanced shielding,” the company said in an e-mail.

According to LG, existing models will be able to be retrofitted with the same enhanced shielding, allowing the monitors to be placed near routers without playing up. Owners affected by the issue are advised to get in touch with Apple, LG, or their reseller to arrange for a repair.

Apple teamed up with LG to create both the 4K and 5K UltraFine Displays, specifically designed to work with the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro. The displays are a successor to Apple’s own Thunderbolt Display, which it discontinued earlier this year amid its departure from the standalone display business.

The 5K Display is currently available for purchase at the sale price of $974 until March 31, 2017, when the price will return to $1,299.95. Apple was recently falsely accused of hiding negative feedback about the new display on its web store, when the truth was that reviews had not yet been activated for the product page.

Whatever the reason for the initial delay, posting to the product page has been possible since January 25 and reviews have so far been mixed. LG’s display currently has a 3 out of 5 star rating based on 115 reviews, but it’s not entirely clear how many of them are solely affected by the router glitch.

Related Roundup: Displays
Tag: LG
Discuss this article in our forums

Viber iOS Update Adds Secret Messages, Rich Notifications, and Instant Video Features

Popular messaging app Viber has received an update that brings a number of new features to the platform, including the ability to send Secret Messages.

Users are now able to specify how long photos, videos, and chat messages can be accessed for after being viewed by the recipient. The time limit options for viewing a Secret Message are 1, 3, 7, and 10 seconds.

Viber has also added the ability to send media as files, so users can send photos and videos in their original size and quality. In addition Viber now supports rich notifications on iOS 10, meaning users can see the contents of messages on the notifications screen or in another app.

Lastly, Viber now offers instant video messaging. Users simply tap and hold the instant video icon, and they can capture and send videos lasting up to 30 seconds.

Viber is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Viber
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Raises $10 Billion in Debt Ahead of Trump’s Plans for Tax Holiday

Apple has raised $10 billion in debt through a nine-part bond sale of both fixed and floating rate notes, according to the company’s final pricing term sheet filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The nine-part sale includes:

• $500 million maturing in 2019 with a floating interest rate based on three month LIBOR plus 8 basis points
• $500 million maturing in 2020 with a floating interest rate based on three month LIBOR plus 20 basis points
• $1 billion maturing in 2022 with a floating interest rate based on three month LIBOR plus 50 basis points
• $500 million maturing in 2019 with a fixed 1.55% interest rate
• $1 billion maturing in 2020 with a fixed 1.9% interest rate
• $1.5 billion maturing in 2022 with a fixed 2.5% interest rate
• $1.75 billion maturing in 2024 with a fixed 3% interest rate
• $2.25 billion maturing in 2027 with a fixed 3.35% interest rate
• $1 billion maturing in 2047 with a fixed 4.25% interest rate

Apple held $246.1 billion in cash and marketable securities last quarter, but around 94% of that money is held overseas and would be subject to high U.S. taxes upon repatriation—something U.S. President Donald Trump plans to change. In the meantime, by raising debt through bonds, Apple can pay for its U.S. operations at a much lower rate, particularly given its low-risk Aa1/AA+ bond credit rating.

Apple typically uses the capital raised to fund dividend payments to shareholders and its share buyback program. Last quarter, Apple returned almost $15 billion to investors through dividends and buybacks. $201 billion of Apple’s $250 billion capital return program has been completed. The company also uses the capital for general corporate purposes, such as the repayment of earlier debt and acquisitions.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: bonds, SEC
Discuss this article in our forums

Hacker Leaks Cellebrite’s iOS Bypassing Tools, Tells FBI ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’

It’s been nearly a year since a U.S. federal judge originally ordered Apple to help the FBI hack into an iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2015 attacks in San Bernardino. As we learned in the months after the initial court order — which Apple continually opposed — the FBI enlisted the help of Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite to open up the iPhone 5c in question.

Now a hacker has reportedly stolen and publicly released a cache of Cellebrite’s most sensitive data, including its tools used to hack into older iPhones, as well as Android and BlackBerry smartphones (via Motherboard). Techniques that the firm uses to open “newer iPhones” were not included in the public posting, but it’s also not clear exactly which models of iPhone are considered “older.” Farook’s iPhone 5c, which launched in 2013, is likely in that category.

Apple’s main stance against the court order last year was its fear that creating such an operating system that bypassed the iPhone’s basic security features — essentially creating a “master key” for all iOS devices — would set a “dangerous precedent” for the future of encryption and security. The bypass could also potentially make its way into the public and affect hundreds of millions of Apple customers, with Apple CEO Tim Cook claiming that the software the FBI wanted to use to force open Farook’s iPhone was “the equivalent of cancer.”

As pointed out by Motherboard, the newly leaked tools “demonstrate that those worries were justified.” According to the hacker in question who shared Cellebrite’s tools on Pastebin, the purpose behind the leak was to highlight the importance of the inevitability that any brute force tools aimed at bypassing encryption software “will make it out” into the public.

“The debate around backdoors is not going to go away, rather, its is almost certainly going to get more intense as we lurch toward a more authoritarian society,” the hacker told Motherboard in an online chat.

“It’s important to demonstrate that when you create these tools, they will make it out. History should make that clear,” they continued.

Back in January the same hacker stole 900GB of sensitive Cellebrite data, but according to a Cellebrite spokesperson, only its customers’ “basic contact information” had been put at risk. Delving into the cache of information, it was proven that the breach had uncovered much more detailed “customer information, databases, and a vast amount of technical data regarding Cellebrite’s products.”

In a README file posted alongside the more recent data dump on Pastebin, the hacker in question left a message directly addressing the FBI: “@FBI Be careful in what you wish for.”

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Apple-FBI, Cellebrite
Discuss this article in our forums

Tim Cook to Receive Honorary Degree From University of Glasgow

Apple CEO Tim Cook will receive an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow on February 8 at 6:00 p.m. local time, as spotted by 9to5Mac. Following the ceremony, there will be a “Fireside Chat” and Q&A session.

Tim Cook is the CEO of Apple. As CEO, he has led the introduction of innovative new products and services including iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch. He is leading a companywide effort to use 100 percent renewable energy at all Apple facilities, has encouraged his co-workers to give to charitable organisations in their community and started a generous program at Apple to match employee donations.

In 2015, he ranked #1 on Fortune’s World’s Greatest Leaders list, and received both the Ripple of Hope award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights and the Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign. Apple has ranked #1 on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for the past nine years, including each year Mr. Cook has been CEO. Before being named CEO in 2011, Mr. Cook was Apple’s chief operating officer, responsible for all the company’s worldwide sales and operations.

The free sold-out event is open to staff and students of the University of Glasgow only. The ceremony will take place at Bute Hall on the university’s campus. More details are available on ticketing website Eventbrite.

Yesterday, Cook was named the recipient of the Newseum 2017 Free Expression Award in the Free Speech category.

Tags: Tim Cook, United Kingdom
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Releases $200 Pro Apps Bundle for Education Customers

Apple today introduced a Pro Apps Bundle for Education that includes Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, and MainStage 3 for $199.99. The software bundle is available for teachers, faculty, staff, and students at universities, colleges, and K-12 schools in the United States, as reported by The Loop.

The total cost of Final Cut Pro X ($299.99), Logic Pro X ($199.99), Motion 5 ($49.99), Compressor 4 ($49.99), and MainStage 3 ($29.99) is usually $629.95, so the bundle offers educational customers over $400 in savings. The bundle must be purchased through the Apple Store for Education.

After purchasing the bundle, education customers will receive an email with codes to redeem the apps on the Mac App Store. Apple says codes are usually delivered within one business day, but may occasionally take longer.

Final Cut Pro X is Apple’s professional video editing software, while Logic Pro X is its professional audio workstation for advanced music production. Motion 5, Compressor 4, and MainStage 3 are companion tools for creating 3D animations and effects, customizing output settings, building set lists, and more.

Update: Apple has confirmed that its Pro Apps Bundle for Education is coming soon to countries outside the U.S. that offer an Apple Online Store for Education, such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Discuss this article in our forums

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Headphones Prize Pack From Satechi

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Satechi to give MacRumors readers a chance to win a prize pack that includes wireless headphones, a headphones case, and a stand for the headphones.

Satechi’s Aluminum Wireless Headphones are designed to match Apple’s line of iPhones and are available in four complementary colors: Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold. Priced at $69.99, the headphones feature comfortable ear cups and connect to the iPhone using Bluetooth 4.0.

The headphones are made from aluminum, much like Apple’s own devices, and according to Satechi, they deliver high-quality sound at a range of up to 33 feet. A single battery charge powers them for 18 hours, and there’s a built-in microphone for making phone calls.

Alongside the headphones, Satechi is including its $20 Synthetic Leather Headphone Case, which has a hard outer shell to keep the headphones safe when stashed inside a bag or backpack.

When at home, the headphones can be stored on Satechi’s Slim Aluminum Headphone Stand, also included. The stand, priced at $28, is able to work with any brand of headset or headphones you own, and it comes in four colors to match Apple’s line of iPhones.

We have three Satechi prize packs to give away. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest will run from today (February 3) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 10. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 10 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tags: giveaway, Satechi
Discuss this article in our forums