Apple Music May Cost Just $2 to $3 Per Month in India and Russia [iOS Blog]

Apple Music will cost $9.99 per month in the United States after a three-month free trial period, but the service could cost as little as $2 per month elsewhere. A sign-up menu for Apple Music that started appearing yesterday for some developers and public beta testers on iOS 8.4 beta 4 reveals that the subscription-based streaming music service may have lower pricing in countries such as India and Russia.

A pair of separate reports by Technology Personalized and Russian-language tech blog TJournal share screenshots that suggest an Apple Music individual subscription could cost Rs 120 per month in India (~$2 USD) and 169 rubles per month (~$3 USD) in Russia. While the lower prices in these countries are not confirmed beyond these screenshots, they would be in line with similar pricing offered by rivals such as Rdio, Guvera and Gaana.

Apple Music was announced earlier this week as a streaming music service, live global radio station and social platform for artists to connect with fans. The subscription-based service will be available for a monthly fee after a three-month free trial for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC. Apple TV and Android versions of the service will be available in the fall. Apple Music launches June 30 on iOS 8.4 and iTunes.

FBI seized computers linked to celeb photo leak scandal

A huge celebrity nude leak scandal took the internet by storm last year — now, an unsealed federal search warrant gives us a peek into the FBI’s investigations. Apparently, the feds used phone records and IP to track one of the computers used to access the celebrities’ compromised accounts in October 2014. That computer was linked to two email addresses owned by a 30-year-old man named Emilio Herrera. As a result, the FBI conducted a search of Herrera’s home in Chicago and ended up seizing several computers, antiquated phones, memory cards, a Kindle Fire and, curiously, even two floppy disks. Herrera isn’t necessarily a suspect, though: he wasn’t even arrested, and investigation’s still ongoing.

According to the documents, Herrera’s computer and IP address were used to illegally access 572 unique iCloud accountsaround six times each. They were also used in attempts to reset almost 2,000 other iCloud passwords. The documents state that majority of the accounts accessed from Herrera’s home belong to celebs, models and their families, and that a number of them belong to the victims of the nude leak.

Feds didn’t list those victims’ full names in the docs, but gave their initials as follows: A.S., C.H., H.S., J.M., O.W., A.K., E.B. and A.H. A separate affidavit unearthed by the Chicago Sun-Times details a detective’s interview with another called J.L.. Some of them told the feds they took the photos with their phones and only sent a select few to their significant others, yet all their images still made it online. A few remember being kicked and locked out of their own accounts for a period of time last year (one even got spooked enough to disable iCloud afterwards), while others recall receiving phishing messages. You can read the full warrant and affidavit (courtesy of Gawker) right here, if you want to know more about the case.

Filed under: Mobile, Apple

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Via: Variety

Source: NBC News, Federal Search Warrant

Apple Retail Employees Alleged to be Treated as ‘Criminals’ in Bag Check Lawsuit [iOS Blog]

A few retail employees at Apple Store locations have complained directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying the company’s policy of checking its employees’ bags for security reasons was “embarrassing and demeaning.” The new record comes from a court filing and is part of a 2013 lawsuit claiming the Cupertino company should compensate its employees for the time the bag checks take (via Reuters).

One of the workers in the lawsuit sent an email to Cook back in 2012, claiming that Apple retail store managers “are required to treat ‘valued’ employees as criminals.” In the filing it was said that Cook then forwarded the complaint to both top retail and human resources executives asking, “Is this true?” No responses to Cook’s inquiry were documented within the filing made public this week.

In the original lawsuit, which is seeking class action status after being dismissed last year, Amanda Friekin and Dean Pelle claimed that these bag checks were mandatory every time a sales rep left the store and were meant to discourage theft. In one of the original emails sent to Cook in 2012, the employee simply claims Apple’s strict policy breeds an environment of distrust amongst its otherwise loyal workers.

In the 2012 email to Cook, with a subject line “Fearless Feedback from Apple Retail Specialist,” the employee said Apple’s policy implies the company does not trust its workers.

“These procedures are often performed in front of gawking customers,” the employee wrote, adding that workers deserve to be treated with the same respect that Apple shows customers.

As Reuters points out, in a Supreme Court ruling last December, Amazon won out over a group of its employees who sued the company for monetary compensation in the time they spent going through security checks at the end of their shifts. The Supreme Court’s ruling erred on Amazon’s side because it found these security checks were not a “principal activity” of the employees’ job description.

A hearing in the lawsuit is set for a July 2 date in court.

iOS flaw tricks you into giving up your iCloud password

Successful hack attacks often happen not because of tricky coding, but plain old “social engineering” — ie, conning people. A Github researcher called “jansoucek” has discovered an iOS exploit that works on that principal to steal people’s iCloud passwords. The latest version of iOS, 8.3, apparently fails to filter out potentially dangerous HTML code embedded in incoming emails. The researcher’s proof-of-concept code takes advantage of that by calling up a remote HTML form that looks identical to the iCloud log-in window. It could easily trick someone into entering their iCloud username and password, then hide the dialog after the user clicks “OK.”

More sophisticated folks might be suspicious, since there are differences between a real iCloud log-in and the fake one. For instance, predictive keyboard mode doesn’t turn off like it normally would, and the fake dialogue can be dismissed by hitting “home,” unlike the real McCoy. Still, if you weren’t thinking for a second or didn’t realize those things, a baddie could nab your password and seize control without you realizing a thing. (Two-step authentication would save your bacon, of course.) Jansoucek said that he first reported the bug in January, but it has yet to be fixed, hence his decision to publish the proof-of-concept. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.

Filed under: Internet, Apple

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Jansoucek

Apple Maps Transit Directions Work Across Much of Southern Ontario [iOS Blog]

Apple earlier this week announced that Toronto will be one of ten major cities in North America that will support Apple Maps transit directions on iOS 9 in the fall, but after early testing we can confirm that the new routing option for bus, subway, light rail, train and ferry directions will actually extend well beyond the city limits and TTC to cover much of the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.

Apple Maps transit directions on iOS 9 beta working in Waterloo and Barrie
A thread posted on Reddit first pointed towards the Apple Maps transit acknowledgments page, which has been updated with several Canadian transit operators outside of Toronto, but we dug further and found that Apple Maps transit directions work in even more cities. We were able to receive bus, subway, light rail or train directions between over a dozen Canadian cities and towns throughout Southern Ontario listed below.

List of Supported Cities:

• Mississauga: MiWay bus directions where service is provided in Mississauga. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between Mississauga and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• Oakville: Oakville Transit bus directions where service is provided in Oakville. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between Oakville and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• Brampton: Brampton Transit bus directions where service is provided in Brampton. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between Brampton and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• York Region: York Region Transit (YRT) bus directions and Viva rapid transit directions where service is provided in Aurora, Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and other areas within York Region. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between York Region and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario. There are also directions for TTC routes operating between York Region and subway stations in Toronto.
• City of Hamilton: Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) bus directions where service is provided in Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas and Stoney Creek. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between Hamilton and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge: Grand River Transit (GRT) bus directions where service is provided in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. GO Transit bus and train directions where service is provided for traveling between Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• Guelph: Guelph Transit bus directions where service is provided in Guelph. GO Transit bus and train directions also available for traveling between Guelph and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
• Niagara Region: Niagara Falls Transit, St. Catharines Transit, Welland Transit, Niagara Region Transit and WEGO bus directions where service is provided in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Region. GO Transit bus and train (summer only) directions where service is provided for traveling between Niagara Falls and other Apple Maps-supported cities within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.

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iOS 9 Extends Continuity Phone Call Features to Cellular Connections

With iOS 8, Apple introduced Continuity, a set of features that allow iOS devices and Macs to interface in new ways. One of the Continuity features allows the iPad and the Mac to receive both text messages and phone calls, so long as your devices, including your iPhone, are all on the same Wi-Fi network.

In iOS 9, accepting phone calls or text messages on your iPad or Mac routed from your iPhone is getting even better, with the addition of cellular support. With iOS 9, your iPhone no longer needs to be on the same network as your iPad or Mac for call forwarding to work.

That means an iPhone can continue to forward calls to a Mac or an iPad even when it’s in an entirely different physical location. So, for example, if you forget your iPhone at home, you can continue to receive incoming calls on your Mac while at work, so long as your Mac is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

The feature is tied to Wi-Fi calling, and as noted by The Verge, T-Mobile is the first U.S. carrier to support cellular Continuity. In iOS 9, T-Mobile devices have Phone settings that can be toggled on to allow calls on other devices.

“Wi-Fi calling for other devices allows other devices signed into your iCloud account to make and receive calls using your carrier account even when your iPhone is not nearby,” reads the description of the feature.

On phones from other carriers, this setting reads differently: “Use your iPhone cellular connection to make and receive calls on devices signed into your iCloud account when they are nearby and on Wi-Fi.”

Developers running iOS 9 who use T-Mobile can access this feature immediately, and beta testers will receive access in July, when iOS 9 is provided to public beta testers. It is not known if other carriers will implement support for cellular Continuity before iOS 9 launches in the fall.

Signs of Apple Music Begin Showing Up in iOS 8.4 Beta Music App

As of this afternoon, many developers and public beta testers running the latest iOS 8.4 beta are seeing popups for Apple’s upcoming Apple Music service within the Music app.

When opening the app, there’s a popup for Apple Music that prompts users to start a three month free trial. Tapping on that option leads to another screen that lets users choose either an individual plan for $9.99 for a family plan for $14.99, but there’s no way to actually sign up for a plan. Choosing a plan simply grays out the option and does not allow users to progress further in the signup process.

These options have been showing up for some users since the latest iOS 8.4 beta was seeded yesterday morning, but many more users are now seeing signs of the Apple Music service as Apple begins to implement backend tools to support subscription signups at launch.

Apple Music will launch on June 30 as part of iOS 8.4, and it will be built into the Music app. The full Apple Music experience includes an on-demand streaming music service, the Beats 1 radio station, and Apple Connect, a social networking service connecting fans and artists.