Chinese Authorities Allegedly Harvesting iCloud Logins Using Redirected Dummy Site [iOS Blog]

Chinese authorities allegedly are using a man-in-the-middle attack to harvest Apple ID information from Chinese users visiting Apple’s iCloud service, reports web censorship blog Great Fire (via The Verge). A similar attack reportedly targets Microsoft’s login.live.com website.

According to Great Fire, Chinese users trying to access iCloud.com are redirected to a fake site that resemble’s Apple’iCloud website. While some browsers will issue a warning, popular Chinese browser Qihoo gives no indication users are entering their Apple credentials into a dummy site. Users fooled by the site may be putting their personal information at risk as attackers can then use these login details to access contacts, messages and more stored in iCloud.

This is clearly a malicious attack on Apple in an effort to gain access to usernames and passwords and consequently all data stored on iCloud such as iMessages, photos, contacts, etc. Unlike the recent attack on Google, this attack is nationwide and coincides with the launch today in China of the newest iPhone. While the attacks on Google and Yahoo enabled the authorities to snoop on what information Chinese were accessing on those two platforms, the Apple attack is different. If users ignored the security warning and clicked through to the Apple site and entered their username and password, this information has now been compromised by the Chinese authorities.

This attack follows the Chinese launch of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and may be related to the encryption options and increased security of Apple’s iOS 8. It is possible Chinese authorities are using this hack to penalize Apple for taking extra measures that would prevent the government from snooping on phones.

Great Fire advises Chinese users to switch to a trusted browser such as Firefox and Chrome, which will warn users when they access an illegitimate site. Apple owners also can use a VPN to bypass this redirection and connect directly to iCloud.com. Two-factor authentication may also prevent attackers from accessing an iCloud account using a compromised username and password.

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.

Apple Pushing for $5 Beats Music Subscriptions as Spotify Debuts Discounted Family Plan

As previously reported, Apple plans to relaunch its recently acquired Beats Music subscription early next year and hopes to offer the service with with a lowered monthly cost. According to new “industry scuttlebut” relayed to Re/code, Apple is pushing music labels to cut streaming music subscription prices in half to $5 per month.

The logic of Apple’s argument, relayed by people who’ve heard the pitch secondhand: Apple’s best iTunes buyers spend about $60 a year on downloaded music — $5 a month. So if subscription services dropped that low, any download buyers that switched over to the streaming model would generate just as much revenue for the music labels. And, more important, the market of potential subscribers would get much larger.

Any reduction offered to Apple would be available to other services, making it less likely music industry executives would approve of a 50 percent discount. Re/code notes Apple will more likely meet the music labels in the middle with a monthly fee in the range of $7-8.

While Apple negotiates the terms for its Beats Music streaming service, rival Spotify is upping the ante with a new Spotify Family plan. Similar to Rdio’s Unlimited Family plan, Spotify Family allows a premium subscriber to add up to four additional members for $4.99/month each, a 50 percent discount off the regular $9.99 individual premium plan. Spotify announced the family plans today and will roll then out globally in the coming weeks.

Apple Expecting In-App Purchases to Make Up Most of Early Apple Pay Activity

Ahead of the launch of Apple Pay tomorrow, The Wall Street Journal has posted an overview of the mobile payments service with some insight from Apple about what it expects from it over the coming months.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue stated that he expects the biggest share of early Apple Pay transactions to be in-app purchases. Currently, in-app purchases require users to sign into their iTunes account and set up a new card if one isn’t registered already. Apple Pay will allow users to simply use the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on a device to complete an in-app purchase.

Cue also spoke on how the company sees its roll-out of the service:

“We’re trying to do something that I think is a game changer and it requires a lot of people to play together,” said Eddy Cue , Apple’s senior vice president in charge of Internet software and services, in an interview. “There’s a lot to do here and we have a lot of work to do, but it should be huge.”

While the company’s mobile payments solution will also allow shoppers to physically buy items in-store using their iPhones, many of Apple’s partners have yet to receive the payment terminals needed to process transactions. However, Apple expects many merchants to upgrade their terminals in the next year which will help the service. Apple Pay will not be compatible with corporate credit cards, prepaid cards, or even store cards like Macy’s popular credit card offering. Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski stated that he expects Apple to add support for the Macy’s card eventually.

The article also notes that Apple Pay on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will only be compatible with in-app purchases and cannot be used to purchase items in-store. This is likely due to their lack of an near-field communication (NFC) antenna, which is what the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus use to interact with compatible payment terminals. The Apple Watch will have an NFC chip when it launches early next year and will allow users to make in-store Apple Pay transactions.

A report from Digiday also claims that Apple will integrate Apple Pay with its iAd business, citing sources familiar with the matter. The move would allow advertisers to embed a “tap-to-buy” button in their mobile ads, and would be similar to what Facebook and Twitter did for their services earlier this year. Apple is also said to be working in iAd’s new retargeting feature with Apple Pay, which would allow retailers to push targeted ads with buy buttons to users. Apple is expected to integrate Apple Pay with iAd by the end of this year.

Apple Pay will be launching tomorrow, October 20 alongside iOS 8.1 and will be compatible with credit cards and debit cards from major payment networks including American Express, MasterCard, and Visa. Several banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One and more are also listed as partners.

In-store payments will Apple Pay will require the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, and will also be supported by the Apple Watch when it launches later this year. All three aforementioned devices plus the iPhone 5s, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 will be able to make online purchases with Apple Pay.

Late 2014 Mac Mini Benchmarks Indicate Decreased Multi-Core Performance

The newly refreshed Mac mini is seeing improved single-core performance over the previous models, but decreased multi-core performance, according to a newly released GeekBench benchmark. John Poole of Primate Labs says that the upper tier Late 2012 Mac minis, which had quad-core Ivy Bridge processors, saw better multi-core performance than the new Late 2014 models, which have dual-core Haswell processors.

Unlike single-core performance multi-core performance has decreased significantly. The “Good” model (which has a dual-core processor in both lineups) is down 7%. The other models (which have a dual-core processor in the “Late 2014″ lineup but a quad-core processor in the “Late 2012″ lineup) is down from 70% to 80%.

Poole notes that Apple may have switched to dual-core processors in some Late 2014 Mac minis because Haswell dual-core processors use one socket to connect the logic board and processor while Haswell quad-core processors use different sockets. This would mean Apple would have to design and build two separate logic boards specifically for the Mac mini, while other Macs use the same logic boards across their individual line.

This trade-off didn’t exist with Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors because both of its dual-core and quad-core processors used the same socket. Another option, according to Poole, is that Apple could have went quad-core across its new Mac mini line, but it would have made it difficult for Apple to hit the $499 price point.

Despite the decreased quad-core performance, the single-core performance of the new Mac mini is in line with other Macs’ performance jumps from Ivy Bridge to Haswell.

Base configurations for the Mac mini are currently available for purchase on Apple’s online store with pricing starting at $499 and will ship in one to three days. Custom configurations ship within three to five days.

Watch Jony Ive and Elon Musk talk design and sci-fi transportation

Tired of hearing little more than soundbites from tech luminaries such as Apple’s Jony Ive and Tesla’s Elon Musk? Today’s your lucky day. Vanity Fair has posted its full video interviews with both Ive and Musk, giving you an insight into how the two executives work. Not surprisingly, Ive’s chat focuses on his design philosophies and processes, including what he thinks of Xiaomi’s eerily familiar-looking products (spoiler: he doesn’t see them as “flattery”). Musk, meanwhile, drops both hints about Tesla’s semi-automated Model S P85D and discusses the motivations behind the science fiction-inspired transport from SpaceX and Tesla, including why it’s important for humanity to go to Mars. The two discussions are lengthy at about half an hour each, but they’re definitely worthwhile if you want to see what makes key industry figures tick.

[Image credit: Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair]

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Apple

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Source: YouTube (Jony Ive), Elon Musk

You can’t upgrade the new Mac mini’s RAM

If you’re planning to snag the new Mac mini and load it up with aftermarket memory, you may want to reconsider your strategy. Macminicolo owner Brian Stucki (among others) has discovered that the RAM in Apple’s latest tiny desktop isn’t upgradable, much as you’d expect with the company’s laptops and the 21-inch iMac. The move isn’t completely surprising given that the Mac mini is basically a MacBook in different clothing, but it’s a step backward given how relatively easy it was to upgrade the previous generation. All that you can do now is replace the hard drive, provided you’re willing to void your warranty. You’ll have to consider buying either a higher-end model or a custom order to get more RAM, and both of those options are typically more expensive than adding RAM yourself. This limitation isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, but it’s unfortunate if you like the idea of upgrading a Mac on your own terms.

Filed under: Desktops, Apple

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Via: MacRumors

Source: Brian Stucki (Twitter)

Flickr Launches Updated iOS App with Full iPad Optimization [iOS Blog]

Yahoo-owned photo sharing service Flickr today updated its iOS app to Version 3.2, bringing full optimization for the iPad along with other new features. Flickr for iPad allows users to browse images on their feeds in high resolution and contains a full camera interface and editing suite for shooting and editing photos. In addition to a new interface, Flickr also now comes with its own iOS 8 share extension that allows photos to be shared through social media services like Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.

This version of the Flickr iOS app is optimized to take full advantage of the larger screen on iPad, while delivering the gorgeous design you expect of Flickr, our powerful camera, and the versatility you need to manage your photos while on the go. On iPad, Flickr can now display images in high resolution by pushing up to 3,000,000 pixels per photo.

Flickr launched a redesigned app for the iPhone earlier this year, which brought new features like live filters and HD video recording. The service was acquired by Yahoo in May 2013, which led to a major overhaul and 1TB of free photo storage space for all users.

Flickr is a free app for the iPhone and iPad and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]