Apple No Longer Offers Financing to Individuals in Canada

TD Canada Trust recently announced that the Apple Financial Services program has been discontinued for individuals in Canada.

Canadians with an Apple Financial Services credit card issued by TD will no longer be able to charge purchases to the account as of July 26.

Through the program, any approved customer in Canada could receive three months of same-as-cash or no-interest financing on Apple Online Store purchases of $750 or more. The program was not valid for in-store purchases.

Apple removed the “consumer” section of the financing page on its Canadian website about a month ago, signaling the entire program is discontinued. Apple continues to offer financing to businesses and educational institutions in Canada.

Apple continues to offer financing to individuals in the United States through the Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards.

(Thanks, Jason!)

Tags: Canada, TD Canada Trust, financing
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The Use of Advanced Lighting in Assisted Living Facilities

The advancement of technology has contributed significantly to the enhancement of quality of life in assisted living facilities. One of the latest trends that is making waves in the senior living industry is the use of advanced LED lighting. This article takes a look at how advanced lighting can be beneficial to seniors in assisted living facilities.

Improve Safety

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 33 percent of adults aged 65 years and over experience a fall every year, and falls have resulted in more senior deaths than any other injury-causing accident. Many seniors need to get out of bed to use the bathroom at night, and they require light levels that are higher than the average nightlight but below the maximum brightness of room lighting.

Advanced LED lighting, such as Cree lighting with the WaveMax Technology, can be precisely adjusted and controlled to give assisted living residents a greater sense of safety. The WaveMax Technology also enables seniors to direct light to a particular area in a room, removing wasted light that can interfere with their vision. Another benefit of LED lighting in assisted living facilities is that it can accommodate the changing vision of seniors, providing adequate lighting to improve vision and minimize vulnerability to accidents.

Enhance Resident Satisfaction

New LED lighting technologies, such as the Cree SmartCast Technology and the adjustable correlated color temperatures feature, make it possible for seniors to customize lighting to suit their specific needs and preferences. Also, the SmartCast Technology facilitates wireless lighting control to provide greater convenience for seniors. These technologies work together to improve the quality of life in an assisted living facility. This is why it is often a good idea for seniors to move to assisted living facilities that are equipped with advanced LED lighting.

Reduce Energy Consumption

LED lighting can also reduce energy costs significantly. According to Cree, its SmartCast Technology can cut energy consumption by up to 70 percent, compared to fluorescent lighting. LED lighting also lasts about 40,000 hours longer than fluorescent lighting. Lower operational costs for assisted living facilities can translate into better services or lower costs for residents.

As more and more baby boomers are seeking assisted living services, the use of LED lighting can help assisted living communities cater to their unique needs and provide the highest level of safety, comfort, and well-being.

Samsung’s new Galaxy J-series phones coming to the UK soon

Samsung has announced plans to bring a brand new series of Galaxy J phones to the market this summer. The Galaxy J5 and J3 for 2017 both feature metal bodies and competitive specifications for an affordable price. 

The new Galaxy J5 is more compact than its predecessor and features a full metal body. It also has a full HD resolution AMOLED display, ensuring details are visible clearly and colours are vibrant and punchy. 

There’s also an improved set of cameras. Both the front and rear snappers feature a 13-megapixel sensor, and for those who shoot a lot of images and video, the phone’s 16GB storage is expandable to 256GB using a microSD card. Its 1.6GHz processor should be enough to power your every day tasks effortlessly too. 

As for the smaller Galaxy J3, that also has a sleek metal body that matches the design of the other J-series handsets of 2017. It also has 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded by microSD up to 256GB. Like its bigger sibling, it has a 13-megapixel camera sensor. 

Both phones come loaded with Samsung’s own skinned version of Android, including Knox, which helps keep your phone contents secure. 

The Samsung Galaxy J5 and J3 will be available to buy in the UK at some point in the next few months, from Samsung direct or a number of retailers. Samsung hasn’t announced pricing just yet, but we’ll update as soon as we get the specifics. 

Europe’s top court rules that ISPs should block The Pirate Bay

Even though its founders are long gone, The Pirate Bay remains one of the biggest piracy websites on the planet. Over the last decade, the torrent hub has been shutdown, reborn and consistently targeted in numerous lawsuits, of which one is only now coming to a close. In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) told Dutch ISPs today that they must block access to The Pirate Bay because it facilitates an “act of communication” by allowing users to obtain pirated material.

“Making available and managing an online platform for sharing copyright-protected works, such as ‘The Pirate Bay,’ may constitute an infringement of copyright,” the CJEU said as part of its decision, which may now pave the way for other European ISPs to enforce their own crackdowns on The Pirate Bay and other illegal torrent websites.

The case has been ongoing since 2009, after Dutch anti-piracy group Stichting Brein (BREIN) took action against local ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL. In 2012, the District Court of The Hague ruled that the providers must block customers from accessing The Pirate Bay, but Ziggo and XS4ALL successfully overturned the decision two years later. The case was then referred to the Supreme Court before it eventually ended up at the European Court of Justice.

While judges accepted that content submitted to The Pirate Bay is placed online by users and that it doesn’t physically host illegal media, they did say that it does “play an essential role in making those works available.” Because the site’s operators index files, provide a search engine and categorize content, users are quickly able to locate the files they wish to download.

Today’s ruling is the second judgement in as many months that focuses on platforms that facilitate the distribution of illegal content. In April, the CJEU confirmed that the sale of hardware that come pre-loaded with add-ons — including so-called Kodi boxes — constitutes copyright infringement. Both cases are expected to set precedents that will allow rightsholders to enact similar blocks in local courts across Europe, even if providers are likely to circumvent any blocks placed on their services.

Via: TorrentFreak

Source: European Court of Justice

US: North Korea’s been hacking everyone since 2009

US authorities believe the North Korean government has been using an army of hackers called “Hidden Cobra” to deploy cyber attacks over the past eight years. That’s according to the Technical Alert formally issued by the Homeland Security and the FBI, which contains the details and tools NK’s cyber army has been using to infiltrate the media, financial, aerospace and critical infrastructure sectors in the US and around the globe. The government agencies are encouraging cyber analysts to be on the lookout, warning them that the Asian country will continue to use cyber operations to advance its government’s military and strategic objectives.

According to the report, the weapons in Hidden Cobra’s arsenal include DDoS botnets, keyloggers, remote access tools and different variants of malware and tools. It also said that the group is commonly referred to in the media as the Guardians of Peace and the Lazarus Group. In other words, the US is saying that the state-sponsored Hidden Cobra is the same group responsible for the massive Sony Pictures hack in 2014 carried out by a group calling themselves the Guardians of Peace. It might also be responsible for the WannaCry ransomware, which recently took a lot of PCs hostage using the NSA hacking tools that leaked to the public.

That’s not entirely surprising, seeing as the FBI linked NK to the Sony cyberattack shortly after it happened. Plus, security researchers found similarities between the code of an early version of WannaCry and a sample code from the Lazarus Group, which was linked to both the Sony Pictures hack and the $80 million Bangladesh Bank heist. North Korean representatives denied their country was involved in the incidents, though they certainly sounded glad someone hacked Sony, calling the perpetrators “supporters and sympathizers” of the North’s cause. If you’ll recall, the Sony hack happened as the studio was preparing to bring The Interview to theaters. The movie is a political satire/spy flick starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate NK leader Kim Jong-un.

So, what can we do to protect ourselves from Hidden Cobra? The report says the group commonly targets old Windows platforms, most likely XP, that are no longer patched. They also use vulnerabilities found in Flash and Silverlight to infiltrate computers, though both Adobe and Microsoft said they already patched those holes early last year. The best way to keep the hackers out is to use newer OS that’s still receiving security upgrades. Homeland Security also recommends removing both Flash and Silverlight entirely if they’re not necessary to be sure no bad player uses them as an entry point.

While we probably have little to worry about as individuals, companies in the industries NK tends to target (especially those based in South Korea) might want to double down on security. In addition to Homeland Security’s and the FBI’s warning that the country will continue using its cyber army, security firm FireEye warns that it’s been seeing increasingly aggressive attacks from the totalitarian state. The North has been using cyber espionage techniques to spy on the South’s finance, energy and transportation firms, suggesting that they’re “preparing for something fairly significant.”

Source: Reuters, Department of Homeland Security

Razer’s Blade Stealth packs a larger display into a familiar frame

While the Razer Blade Stealth is a solid laptop, that 12.5-inch display is rather confining… especially when you know that there are other small laptops with larger displays. Razer is setting things right, though. It’s introducing a new version of the Stealth that stuffs a 13.3-inch, 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen into a similar body. The system is slightly heavier (2.93 pounds versus 2.84), but you’re still getting that half-inch thickness and claimed nine hours of battery life. The most conspicuous change is the US option for a gunmetal gray color (shown below) with a much subtler logo on the lid. In other words, you won’t have to explain Razer’s audacious green iconography at your next business meeting.

Be prepared to pay more for the larger panel. The 13.3-inch model is shipping today from Razer’s online store (it hits retail stores later in June), but only in a decked-out $1,399 configuration with a 2.7GHz Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. While those are useful upgrades, the 12.5-incher’s $999 starting price sounds like a bargain in comparison. And of course, that’s excluding the Core enclosure and dedicated graphics card you’d need to realize Razer’s vision of plug-in gaming prowess. This isn’t a replacement (the 12.5-inch version is sticking around) — it’s a premium model for people who want a more powerful system without springing for the bulkier and pricier standard Blade.

On top of this, Razer just unveiled the Thresher Ultimate headset for PS4 and Xbox One gamers. The over-ear wireless set delivers 7.1-channel Dolby surround through larger-than-usual 50mm drivers, and carries a retractable microphone boom for coordinating with your teammates. You can pre-order the Thresher Ultimate now ahead of its expected July release for $250. That’s expensive, but it covers many of the bases when it comes to gaming audio.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Source: Razer (Blade Stealth), (Thresher Ultimate)

IBM will put connected car data to better use

As cars get smarter, we’re going to have to deal with all of the information our daily drives create in a way we’ve never had to bother with before. Thankfully, IBM is offering to be the middleman that represents our vehicles in the confusing new world of automotive cloud telematics. The company has signed a deal with BMW that will see the BMW CarData platform connect to IBM’s Bluemix cloud. The idea is that IBM will host and analyze your information and then pass it to third parties — with your consent — when required.

The pair is currently identifying suitable use cases and services that may use the new system, with more details coming later this year. But it’s clear from this that you could easily hook your car up to, say, your local insurer and auto shop without too much fuss. The former could be told how safely you’re driving, while the latter will be prepared for when a fault develops and you need to bring it in.

IBM, of course, doesn’t just want to be BMW’s best friend to the exclusion of all others, and wants other automakers to join its cause. IBM’s Dirk Wollschlaeger believes that the company can become a “single point of contact” for all of the various parts of the auto industry. All of which is likely to become more important when cars start driving themselves

Microsoft patches Windows XP to stop foreign hack attacks

Last month, Microsoft took what it called the “highly unusual” step of patching older Windows versions like XP against the WannaCrypt ransomware virus. It’s doing the same in June to protect against attacks that are potentially even more sinister. “This month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyber attacks by government organizations, sometimes referred to as nation-state actors or other copycat organizations,” security manager Adrienne Hall wrote in a blog.

If you’re using current, supported versions of Windows, including Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, or Windows Server versions between 2008 and 2016, your systems will automatically update, assuming you have that feature enabled (or you can download the patches here). If you have versions without extended support, including Windows XP, Vista, 8 or Server 2003, you’ll need to download and install the patches manually.

Microsoft made the patches available to all customers “because applying these updates provides further protection against potential attacks with characteristics similar to WannaCrypt,” it said. It didn’t mention what those were, specifically, but it’s clearly concerned about them.

Last month, WannaCrypt attacked older computers systems, including those used by the UK’s National Health System, causing canceled surgeries and other chaos. The highly sophisticated software, distributed by the Russian-linked Shadow Brokers team, was reportedly purloined from the US Department of Homeland Security’s cache of hacking tools. Microsoft subsequently excoriated the agency, saying that letting its spy tools fall into enemy hands is like “the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.”

Source: Microsoft

iFixit Shares 10.5-Inch iPad Pro Teardown

iFixit has published a 10.5-inch iPad Pro teardown that provides a closer look at the tablet’s internal design.

For the most part, the inside of an 10.5-inch iPad Pro looks similar to the 9.7-inch model it replaced, with only a few minor differences.

In the Wi-Fi version, for example, iFixit discovered some mysterious plastic blocks where the LTE antennas might be found in cellular models. It speculates the blocks are there to add support to the display assembly.

In the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, Apple has affixed the display cables down the center of the device, which puts them out of harm’s way when prying open the display. The display cable bracket is affixed with standard Phillips screws.

The teardown confirms the 10.5-inch iPad Pro has 4GB of 1600MHz LPDDR4 RAM from Micron Technology, with flash storage supplied by Toshiba, which is currently selling its NAND memory division that produces those chips.

iFixit awarded the 10.5-inch iPad Pro a very low repairability score of 2 out of 10 due to Apple’s continued use of strong adhesives for the display, logic board, speakers, ribbon cables, and other components.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tags: iFixit, teardown
Buyer’s Guide: 10.5″ iPad Pro (Buy Now)
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Consumer Reports Rates Galaxy S8 Over iPhone 7 as ‘iPhone 8’ Rumored to Address Most Shortcomings

The newest smartphone ratings from Consumer Reports have been shared this week, and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have beaten out its smartphone competitors, including Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, in categories related to design, battery life, camera, and more. Apple’s current generation of iPhone (launched September 2016) is older than the Galaxy S8 family (launched April 2017), so it makes sense that Consumer Reports’ ratings would end up favoring the newer devices.

Still, this week’s report has some interesting points to make about why the Galaxy S8+ in particular received top marks, and how the upcoming “iPhone 8,” as well as the “iPhone 7s” and “iPhone 7s Plus,” might address the iPhone 7’s shortcomings. Namely, Consumer Reports points out that the Galaxy S8 devices “have no bezels on the side,” and only limited bars at the top and bottom. The testers particularly liked the S8’s 5.8-inch screen.

The look of the S8 and S8+ is minimalist, modern, and elegant—and the design allows for a bigger screen in the same-size device.

Those numbers may not sound terribly different, but when you hold either phone in your hand, it feels novel: easy to grasp even if you have a small grip, but with lots of screen real estate. The S8 is 5.8 inches diagonally (that’s the way screens are measured), while the S8+ is 6.2 inches.

Richard Fisco, Consumer Reports’ lead phone tester, said that the S8 is comfortable to hold, while pointing out that one-handed operation becomes difficult on the devices, particularly the S8+’s 6.2-inch display. Even though the fingerprint scanner on the back of the S8 worked well, the report also described it as “awkwardly placed,” explaining that they had to constantly poke around to find it and normally smudged the camera lens while doing so.

Following last year’s Galaxy S7 battery-related issues, Consumer Reports now described the newest Galaxy smartphones as having “some of the best smartphone battery life we’ve seen,” throughout a range of tests related to Wi-Fi, cellular, and talk-time usage. The testers explained that the beefier battery life on the S8+ is the main reason why the larger phone ranks above the smaller S8.

In terms of the camera, Consumer Reports said that the S8’s photo-taking abilities produce colors that are rich even in low-light environments, and particularly excels in reducing the over-sharpening produced by the camera. The site also called out the iPhone 7 in this section, and its perceived advantage over the S8 in this category for having a dual rear-facing camera system. Despite the S8 and S8+ lacking this kind of set-up, Consumer Reports doesn’t think the Samsung phones are at a disadvantage at all.

Finally, a few top-end cameras, including the iPhone 7 Plus and the LG G6, have dual rear-facing cameras, to enhance either zoom or wide-angle photography. The Samsung phones haven’t gone that route yet—and we don’t think they suffer for it.

Consumer Reports pointed towards water resistance as an advantage of the S8 line — up to at least 5 feet of water for around 30 minutes — while one major disappointment was found in Samsung’s smart assistant Bixby. The AI helper hasn’t rolled out wide yet, so it makes sense that the early version tested might have been unreliable, with the testers saying that Bixby “just isn’t there yet.”

Although the Galaxy S8 and S8+ might have won over iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in these ratings, essentially all of the categories are related to improvements that Apple is rumored to be adding into the 2017 line of iPhones. For Apple’s tablet devices, a reduction of bezels and bigger display area have already been seen in the newest iPad Pros that just launched last week during WWDC.

The iPhone 8 specifically is predicted to include greatly reduced bezels, likely with a bar across the top to hold the front-facing camera and other optical sensors, a 5.8-inch OLED screen in a form factor close to the size of the current iPhone 7, Touch ID under the display, a stacked logic board design that will support longer battery life, improved vertically-aligned dual cameras with advanced AR abilities, IP68 waterproofing to rival the Galaxy S8, and an “enhanced Siri.”

One of the cons related to the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is the price of Samsung’s latest smartphones, starting at around $750 and $850 for 64GB carrier unlocked models, respectively. The iPhone 8 isn’t expected to beat Samsung in this category, with rumors pointing towards a premium-priced iPhone that could cost more than $1,000. Some analysts disagree with that price and suggest an iPhone 8 that will have competitive pricing with the Galaxy S8+, potentially selling a 64GB iPhone 8 for $850 to $900 and a higher-end 256GB model for $950 to $1,000.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tags: Samsung, Consumer Reports
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