Apple Supplier TSMC Recovering From ‘Debilitating’ Computer Virus [Updated]

Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is in recovery from a “debilitating” computer virus that hit many of its fabrication tools this past Friday evening. The company says that 80 percent of the affected tools have been restored, but it’s now on a path to warn its customers — potentially including Apple — of delayed shipments and reduced revenue due to the virus (via Bloomberg).

TSMC builds chips for Apple’s iPhone, and in late July a report from DigiTimes stated that the supplier had begun commercial production of chips manufactured using its advanced 7-nanometer process, including Apple’s A12 processor for the 2018 iPhones. Now TSMC says many of its customers can expect shipment delays, although it didn’t specify which customers would be affected.

The supplier says that “no confidential information” was compromised during the virus attack and as of Sunday most of its customers had been notified. TSMC believes the virus came from a “misoperation” during the software installation process for a new tool that then spread through its computer network, and one analyst thinks “all of TSMC’s 12-inch wafer fabrication plants” were infected.

Mark Li, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said he thinks all of TSMC’s 12-inch wafer fabrication plants had been infected and that many customers had been affected, though the impact will be “very limited” because the company can make up for the losses during the busiest holiday quarter. TSMC makes Apple chips in its 12-inch fabrication plants.

“Long-term, TSMC’s trustworthy image is somewhat tainted but it is hard to quantify the effect now,” Li wrote in a research note Monday.

Although it’s unclear how the virus will end up affecting Apple and the trio of iPhones expected to be revealed next month, Apple is TSMC’s largest customer and is said to account for more than 21 percent of TSMC’s revenue. Apple chose TSMC to remain the exclusive supplier of the upcoming A12 processor for the new iPhones, following rumors from last year that suggested Samsung could be returning to iPhone chip production in 2018.

Despite the fear over chip shipment delays, Apple is likely to have plans in place for any potential supply chain delays, as Bloomberg points out:

While TSMC has not indicated which customers could be affected, such a virus could potentially slow Apple’s output of new devices, cutting into the number of units sold.

Apple does prepare for last minute supply-chain hiccups like the one facing TSMC and could work through any potential problems. An Apple spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

“If the most advanced 7nm process products suffer a major impact, then concern could arise over a potential launch delay for next-gen iPhones,” SMBC Nikko analysts wrote on Monday.

Apple is expected to announce three iPhone models at an event in September: two OLED models measuring in at 5.8 and 6.5 inches and a 6.1-inch lower-cost LCD model. All three iPhones released in 2018 will support Face ID and edge-to-edge displays, with designs similar to last year’s tenth-anniversary iPhone X. According to the latest supply chain analysis (which came prior to TSMC’s virus attack), the OLED iPhones were predicted to have a typical September launch window while the LCD model could “possibly” be delayed to October.

Update: TSMC provided more information in a statement Monday morning, placing blame for the virus attack on a variant of the 2017 WannaCry ransomware. The virus hit facilities in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taichung, including locations that produce Apple chips. According to TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, an “unidentified vendor” provided the company with the infected tool, ruling out the possibility of a hacker targeting TSMC.

“We are surprised and shocked,” Wei told reporters. “We have installed tens of thousands of tools before, and this is the first time this happened.”

Related Roundup: 2018 iPhonesTag: TSMC
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Microsoft Joins Movies Anywhere, Syncing Movies Purchased on Xbox/Windows With iTunes

Microsoft today announced that it is joining Disney’s expanded Movies Anywhere service, allowing customers who purchase films on Xbox and Windows 10 to link their content to Movies Anywhere (via The Verge). Thanks to the new addition, this means that any supported movie you purchase through Microsoft Movies & TV will now also be available on other linked Movies Anywhere accounts, including iTunes.

Digital retailers supporting the service now include iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, Google Play, FandangoNOW, and Microsoft Movies & TV. Movies Anywhere supports films from Disney, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros., meaning that most of the latest releases can be found on the service.

If the films you purchase come from these studios, and you have your Microsoft and iTunes accounts connected to Movies Anywhere, you’ll be able to sync purchases between the two platforms.

Microsoft Movies & TV now supports Movies Anywhere! Purchase Movies Anywhere eligible films from Microsoft Movies & TV and watch on supported platforms: Xbox, Windows, iOS, Android, and streaming devices. Sync your accounts to access your entire Movies Anywhere library on Microsoft Movies & TV, no matter where you purchased.

As a bonus for syncing your Microsoft Movies and TV account with Movies Anywhere, the companies are gifting X-Men: Days of Future Past to its customers for a limited time. Head to Microsoft’s FAQ page for more information on how to link the two accounts.

Disney originally expanded Movies Anywhere from “Disney Movies Anywhere” last October, growing the service into an app that accumulates the user’s entire library of films, not just those from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. Movies Anywhere launched only in the United States, and as of Microsoft’s partnership with the platform it is still limited only to U.S. customers.

Tags: Microsoft, Movies Anywhere
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LG wants to make sure you know it has a phone with a stylus too

It’s stylus week in smartphone world, and although the Galaxy Note 9 is still to come, LG has started us off by announcing the LG Q8, a 2018 refresh of the entirely different Q8 from last year. It’s not a Note 9 challenger, and has a midrange specification sheet — but it may serve those who want a pen to scribble with but cannot justify the massive prices a Samsung Note phone usually commands.

What makes it most notable (sorry) is it provides some more feature and specification information into the recently announced LG Q Stylus range, which will be sold in the U.S. soon. LG wasn’t very forthcoming with the specs or price for the Q Stylus at the time, and the Q8 appears to resemble the Q Stylus Plus. Why has LG announced the phone under a different name? The Q8 is destined for South Korea at the moment.

The stylus hides inside the Q8’s body until its needed, at which time it can be used with the memo feature, for drawing, and to create your own emoji. The memo feature works even when the screen is switched off, making it easy to quickly take notes, and LG has built little sound effects into the pen so it sounds like your writing instrument of choice when it touches the screen.

Specification

This isn’t a small phone. The screen measures 6.2 inches with an 18:9 aspect ratio, and a 2160 x 1080 pixel resolution. There is no notch along the top of the display, and screen bezels similar to the old LG G6. On the back of the phone is a single-lens 16-megapixel camera above a flash unit and a fingerprint sensor. A wide-angle selfie camera is on the front. Despite the sleek appearance, the LG Q8 reaches the MIL-STD 810G standard for toughness, including an IP68 level of water resistance. It weighs 172 grams and is 8.4mm thick, with a 3,300mAh battery inside.

A Snapdragon 450 processor and 4GB of RAM power the phone, and there is both 64GB of internal storage space, and a MicroSD card slot too. The 2017 Q8 resembled the LG V20 and had a far higher specification, but the new version has taken on a style of its own, and become a very different device despite using the same name. The Q8 didn’t have a stylus either.

LG has not given the Q8 a release date yet, but the price converts over to around $480. It will be sold in both Moroccan blue and aurora black color schemes. While the Q Stylus range is the model for buyers in the U.S., the Q8 may also be adapted for use elsewhere in the world. Just don’t get confused over the names for what is essentially the same phone it has announced once this year.

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How to add video news sources to the Lenovo Smart Display

Catch up, don’t play catch-up.

Google Home has long allowed users to set which news sources they hear when they ask Assistant to “play the news,” but with the arrival of Smart Displays from Lenovo and others, many of these briefings now have video, too.

That means when you ask your Lenovo Smart Display to “play the news,” you can watch it, too! Here’s how to get it set up.

How to add video sources to your news briefing

All of the work is done inside the Google Home app, because the Lenovo Smart Display is basically a Google Home with a screen. That means that changes made to the news briefing order will affect all other Google Home speakers associated with your account. Keep that in mind if, for example, you’d prefer to watch your news on one screen and listen to it with a different speaker.

Open the Google Home app.
From the home screen, tap on the three-line hamburger menu.

Select More settings.

Scroll down to News and tap on it.
Select Add news sources.
Check off news sources that say “Video available on Smart Displays”.
Optional Return to previous screen and select Change Order.

Optional Move video briefings up to the top of the list.

What video sources are there?

Right now, it’s early days in the life of video news sources inside of Google Assistant, so the selections are slim.

• CNN
• Reuters TV
• Cheddar
• TODAY Show
• CNBC Tech Check
• CNBC
• Bloomberg First Word
• Mad Money Lightning Round
• CNNMoney
• CBS Local News (various markets)

Anything else?

The great thing about this new feature is that even if you don’t want to mess with your existing news briefing list — say you have a Google Home or other Assistant-based speaker — you can always just ask the Lenovo Smart Display to “play Reuters TV” or “show me CNBC,” making it super easy to catch up on the news really quickly.

Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids Edition drops to £95 for today only

Treat your kids without breaking the bank.

For today only, you can pick up Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet for just £94.99 — that’s down from its usually asking price of £129.99 and within £5 of its previous low price on Prime Day.

Available in Blue, Pink or Yellow, the Kids Edition is a fully-featured Fire HD 8 tablet wrapped in a vibrant, child-friendly and rugged case to prevent the tablet from being damaged. In fact, Amazon is so confident in its ability to protect the device inside that they offer a 2-year ‘worry-free guarantee’ that allows you to return a damaged tablet and have it replaced for free.

It features an 8-inch HD display, quad-core processor, 12-hour battery life and 32GB of on-board storage. You’ll probably want to pick up a microSD card to add more space for movies, games and more — with the money you save on this deal, you could pick up this £15 64GB Samsung microSD card and still have money to spare.

For those not needing the ruggedised Kids Edition, there’s also a promotion running on the regular Fire HD 8 tablet which is down to £84.99 from its usual £99.99 price tag.

For more UK deals coverage, be sure to keep an eye on Thrifter UK, sign up for the newsletter and follow the team on Twitter.

See at Amazon UK

Apple Removes Five of Six Infowars Podcast Series From iTunes Directory

Apple has removed the entire libraries of five Infowars podcasts from the Apple Podcasts platform, Buzzfeed News reported on Sunday.

Among the podcasts removed from Apple’s iTunes index are “War Room” and “The Alex Jones Show”, hosted by the controversial U.S. radio host and conspiracy theory peddler.

Infowars host Alex Jones
A sixth show, “Real News With David Knight”, was the only Infowars podcast to survive Apple’s cull, although why that would be remains unclear.

Apple does not host the podcasts per se but is responsible for running the directory for users of its stock Podcasts app. In explaining its decision to remove the five shows, Apple provided Buzzfeed with the following statement:

“Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users,” a company spokesperson said.

“Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.”

In terms of reach and discoverability, the removal of the shows is just the latest in a number of blows for Alex Jones’ Infowars series. Last month, Facebook suspended the host’s personal profile for 30 days for what it said was hate speech and bullying, while Spotify removed several episodes of Jones’ shows last week for violating its hate content policy.

Infowars was founded by Jones in 1999 and the host has garnered a large following, promoting various conspiracy theories including that the September 11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government.

Recently, the show has been heavily criticized for promoting the theory that many gun massacres reported by the U.S. media are faked by left-wing forces in order to usher in more stringent gun control measures.

Jones is currently being sued in Texas by two parents of children murdered in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, after the host claimed the massacre was one such hoax. The Connecticut attack, which took place in 2012, left 26 children and adults dead.

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.

Tag: Podcasts
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Honor Play hands-on: A gaming phone for the masses

The Honor Play brings the Kirin 970 to the $300 price point.

Honor is now the fifth-largest handset manufacturer in India, and the brand is continuing to build momentum in the country with its latest product. The Honor Play is the third phone Honor has launched in the country over the last three months, and it’s clear that the Chinese manufacturer is going after Xiaomi’s Mi A2, which is slated to launch in the country later this week.

The highlight of the Honor Play is that it is powered by the Kirin 970, making it the most affordable phone yet to feature HiSilicon’s flagship chipset. The Honor Play also comes with GPU Turbo out of the box, with the feature touted to deliver higher sustained peak performance while gaming. Honor is also rolling out an AI-assisted gaming feature that offers custom haptics when using different weapons in titles like PUBG.

Up front, the design is near-identical to that of the Honor 10, with a large cutout at the top for the front camera and associated display sensors. The 6.3-inch FHD+ (2340×1080) FHD+ display is slightly larger than that of the Honor 10, but the added height doesn’t affect one-handed usage. One key difference is that the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back of the device, with the front sporting the Honor logo instead.

The back isn’t as exciting, however, as the device features a unibody metal chassis. The phone comes in Navy Blue and Midnight Black color options, and although it isn’t as evocative as the Honor 10, it has a sturdy build quality. And yes, there’s a 3.5mm jack located next to the USB-C charging port at the bottom.

The Honor Play comes with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM as standard, and the 64GB storage module is based on the UFS2.1 standard. It has dual VoLTE out of the box, and the hybrid SIM card slot lets you use a MicroSD card in the secondary SIM card.

The Kirin 970 is a known quantity at this point — the Honor Play is the sixth device to feature HiSilicon’s chipset. We’ve seen the dedicated NPU on the Kirin 970 in use over the course of 2018, and the experience on the Honor Play is similar to that of the Honor 10 or the P20. A lot of the NPU’s processing power goes toward the AI camera, which significantly boosts the overall image quality, particularly in low-light shooting scenarios.

The Honor Play has a 12MP + 2MP camera configuration at the back, and in real-world shooting scenarios, the camera is on par with the likes of the Mi A2. I’ll go into much more detail over the cameras over the coming weeks, but for now it looks like the AI-assisted feature gives the Honor Play a distinct advantage in this segment.

What do you do when you’re at a boring event? Take a lot of photos. Xiaomi Mi A2 on the left, Honor Play on the right. In this instance, the Play does a much better job. Huawei’s AI is crazy good when it works. pic.twitter.com/9jvq8RQSiS

— Harish Jonnalagadda (@chunkynerd) August 3, 2018

Honor is also rolling out its HiTouch feature that lets you scan real-world objects with the camera, which you’ll then be able to purchase via Amazon India.

On the software front, the Honor Play comes with EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. Aside from the addition of features like GPU Turbo, EMUI should be immediately familiar if you’ve used an Honor or Huawei-branded phone in the last 12 months.

The Honor Play is marketed as a gaming phone in China, but as the Indian gaming segment isn’t as mature, the device will be billed as a performance-oriented phone in the country. As for pricing, the Honor Play will be available in the country for ₹19,999 ($290) for the variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage will be available for ₹23,999 ($350), just shy of what the Nokia 7 Plus retails for in the country.

It’s clear that Honor is looking to build on the success of the View 10 and the Honor 10, and the aggressive pricing combined with the hardware on offer makes the Honor Play a very enticing option in this category. The phone will go up for sale from 4p.m. on August 6, and is exclusive to Amazon India.

What do you guys make of the Honor Play?

See at Amazon India

OPPO’s upcoming smartphone will be the first to feature Gorilla Glass 6

The OPPO F9 series will likely be the first to offer Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6.

Corning unveiled Gorilla Glass 6 last month, offering better protection against tumbles. Corning says Gorilla Glass 6 is able to withstand multiple drops — averaging up to 15 drops from one meter — without breaking, and it’s also touted to be more resistant to scratches when seen against Gorilla Glass 5.

Today, Corning announced that Gorilla Glass 6 will make its debut on OPPO’s upcoming phone. The exact model wasn’t mentioned, but recent teasers suggest the first device to feature Gorilla Glass 6 could be the OPPO F9 and F9 Pro, which are slated for a launch sometime later this month.

The F9 and F9 Pro are set to come with a smaller cutout at the front, much like the Essential Phone, and both phones are also rumored to feature glass backs with a color gradient effect. With the phones slated for a launch sometime this month — the F9 will be unveiled in Vietnam, with the F9 Pro set for a debut in India — we should know more details shortly.

In the meantime, here’s OPPO’s VP Andy Wu on the manufacturer’s ongoing collaboration with Corning:

OPPO and Corning have always maintained a close working relationship, which has enabled a superior user experience for consumers through multiple versions of OPPO smartphones. We are excited to be the first to adopt Gorilla Glass 6 on our upcoming smartphone, and we believe that consumers around the globe will enjoy an unprecedented experience.

Interested in reading more on Gorilla Glass 6? Be sure to take a look at our interview with Corning’s Vice President of Marketing and Innovation Products Scott Forester:

How strong is Gorilla Glass 6? We sat down with Corning to talk about the future of phones

Use these Waze tips and tricks to become an expert navigator

Waze was already a popular, powerful crowdsourced map app before Google acquired it, but the navigation software is now better than ever before. Waze has so many features that even long-term users may not know everything that you can do with the app.

We’ve rounded up some of Waze’s top tricks and tips so you can get the most out of the app.

Adjust map icons according to your interests

Head over to Settings via the magnifying glass, then go to Display & map, and choose Details on map. This will give you a list of icons that you can add or remove from Waze maps. Use this list to customize what you want to see and keep the map fromgetting too crowded with icons. You can choose icons for other Wazers, police, crashes, traffic jams, construction, and more. Remember, some of these icons depend on crowdsourced information, so they aren’t always accurate: It may be worth experimenting with a few icons to see how dependable they are in your area.

Select Routes to check all available route options

Waze is set to automatically pick the route that takes the shortest amount of time, based on what it knows about the area. However, sometimes Waze doesn’t get it right, or doesn’t include other travel information that may influence the roads you take. That’s why it’s a good idea to open Routes in the Waze app, which allows you to cycle through a number of possible routes to your destination. Then you can pick the route that avoids known trouble spots or includes a stop you need.

Use the Arrive At feature to set driving times

With the Arrive At option (which you may be able to find via Find the best time to leave depending on your version of the app), you will be able to choose a number of times to arrive at your destination. Waze compares this with traffic at that time, and gives you a suggested time period to leave by. It’s handy if you don’t want to be late.

Share your ETA

When Waze is giving you directions, you will notice a central button that says Send ETA in your route info. This will open up your contacts and allow you to instantly message an updated ETA to a friend or family member. It’s particularly useful if you hit a traffic jam or an unexpected wait and want to make sure no one freaks out when you’re late.

Edit your Waze map with useful info

Waze

There are a couple different ways you can edit Waze maps to include more information. Currently, you can add a place to a Waze map, submit a report, or edit the streets on a map to make it more accurate. To add a place simply select the orange speech bubble in the lower corner of your map directions. From here, choose Places. Waze will then encourage you to take a photo of the location, and choose whether it’s a residential location or a business location. Finish labeling, then select Done, and the location will be saved to the map.

General reports, on the other hand, are used to update a map on ongoing events, such as changing gas prices, road closures, road hazards, and so on. If you look at the other report options beyond Places, you will see such options as Map Issues, Gas Prices, and so on. Use them for more temporary road conditions.

Finally, if you are really serious about editing maps to make them more accurate, visit the Waze Map Editor. Sign in here, and Waze will run you through the tutorials you need to adjust roads and locations to better match the real world.

Set Waze for motorcycles

Waze has a motorcycle setting. To find it, go to Settings, then select Navigation. Scroll through the options until you find one for Vehicle Type. You can choose between Private, Taxi and Motorcycle. If you set the app to Motorcycle, then Waze will start looking for more motorcycle-friendly options when creating directions for you.

Change or record voice instructions

If you use the voice directions setting, you should really check out Waze’s plethora of voice options you can play with. Head to Settings, choose Sound & voice, and then pick Voice directions. Waze offers a ton of different voices to choose from around the world, including multiple dialects and accents — and even a few celebrities. You can also record your own voice or the voice of a loved one if you want to take the time to record all the instructions yourself.

Add a stop to plan out longer trips with breaks

While Waze is giving you instructions, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal your route command center. One of the options here will be Add a stop, usually with several icons next to it for gas, food, parking and so on. You can either pick a stop from your favorites if you have any stored there, or search for nearby locations to add to your route. This is a great feature for vacations and road trips, where programming in a few stops based on everyone’s needs is beneficial.

Sync up your calendar events

Go to Settings, and select Planned drives. This gives you an option to connect to Facebook events (useful if that’s where you saw an event), or to connect one of your calendars so that you can choose your calendar events. As long as the location spaces are filled out in your calendar, Waze will be able to link up a route for you. It’s a great way to manage your events if you are frequently on the go in new areas.

Download maps for areas with poor connection quality

If there’s a chance that Waze will lose a connection where you are driving, you can download maps and instructions for offline use — as long as you are using an Android device (sorry, iOS users). Start by going to Settings and choosing Display & map. Scroll down until you find Data transfer and select this. Inside this window, you should see the Download traffic info option. Make sure it is enabled. With this feature, Waze will download all your routes when they are created so that you will have access to the directions even without a data connection.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Love Waze’s incident reporting feature? Lucky you, it’s coming to Google Maps
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What changed on Apple’s new MacBook Pro (and why you’ll care)

After a lackluster response to the redesigned MacBook Pro, Apple took user criticism to heart in an attempt to put the “pro” back in MacBook Pro. But what exactly did it change? The Touch Bar is still around, but did Apple address the reduced connectivity and sticky keyboard that marred the Pro’s release?

We got our hands on a new 15-inch MacBook Pro with the Core i9 processor, 32 gigs of RAM, and all the other top-level specs. We’ll walk you through all the features on the new MacBook Pro 15, and go over what changed (and what didn’t) since last year’s model.

The Outside

Not much changed in terms of style from the 2017 to 2018 version of the MacBook Pro. In fact, the dimensions, aluminum, and color options are all nearly identical to last year’s model. The screen is also the same, with a 2880 x 1800 resolution, 15.4-inch IPS display, and a maximum 500 nits of brightness. The only thing that changed on the screen from last year is that it is now compatible with Apple’s True Tone technology, which changes the color of your display based on the ambient light in the room you are in.

Under the screen, we still have the Touch Bar from the previous model. It also has True Tone enabled, but the differences are subtle to the naked eye and nearly impossible to capture on camera. There is also a Touch ID power button. Below the Touch Bar is the new-and-improved keyboard. Apple won’t say exactly how it’s been improved or what’s been done to address dust protection, but it is quieter, if only slightly.

Below the keyboard, is a large force touch track pad, which allows you to use different levels of pressure to perform different actions. Surrounding the keyboard are your stereo speakers; above the screen, there’s a 720p webcam. Two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports adorn the sides of the device, for a total of four ports that can be used for charging, Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort.

The Inside

Where you’re going to notice the most differences from earlier models of the MacBook is under the hood. Powering the MacBook Pro 15 is either the Intel i7 or i9 processor. The device can also house up to 32G of RaAM and either a Radon Pro 555x or 560x graphics card. For storage, you can choose between 256GB (for the Radon Pro 555x models only), 513GB, 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB. However, the prices differences between these options start to get a bit ridiculous and may not be worth the expanded SSD for the price. The options can quickly drive its price over $6,000.

The new MacBook Pro also comes with an 83.6 watt hour battery and an 87 watt USB-C charger. It also comes equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 802.11. On the software side of things, the MacBook is running the latest version of MacOS, High Sierra. Something new to this iteration, though, is the ability to  say, “Hey, Siri” whenever your screen is unlocked and give voice commands to your virtual assistant. This feature has been around on your iPhone for quite a while, but is finally making it’s way to the MacBook Pro.

David Cogen — a regular contributor here at Digital Trends — runs TheUnlockr, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him on Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Here’s everything new with the 2018 MacBook Pro
• Apple’s newest MacBook Pro is now $150 off if you’re a student
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