System Integrity Protection Inexplicably Disabled by Default on Some New MacBook Pro Models

Since OS X El Capitan, the operating system that runs on Macs has been protected by a feature called System Integrity Protection (SIP), which is designed to keep your Mac safe from malware by restricting the permissions of the root user account and preventing unauthorized access to protected files and folders.

System Integrity Protection runs behind the scenes and is generally enabled by default in Macs running OS X El Capitan or later, but it seems the feature is inexplicably turned off on some new MacBook Pro models, leaving them vulnerable.

Developer Jonathan Wight noticed System Integrity Protection was disabled on some machines and tweeted about it this morning, prompting developer Steven Troughton-Smith to do an informal Twitter survey asking users about the status of their new machines.

Consensus seems to be that some (but not all) Touch Bar models are shipping with SIP disabled. No reports of a non-Touch Bar/Escape doing so

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) November 17, 2016

System Integrity Protection is indeed disabled out of the box on a number of 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, including one machine owned by MacRumors. Not all MacBook Pro models are affected, however, as there are users who are reporting that System Integrity Protection is turned on as expected.

As outlined in Apple’s developer documentation, users can check whether SIP is turned on by entering the “csrutil status” command in Terminal. Enabling SIP requires booting into Recovery mode, turning it on using Terminal, and rebooting.

Apple is aware of the issue and will undoubtedly deliver a fix for the issue in an update, but timing for a release is unknown.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

Don’t miss this $95 savings on Lenovo’s ThinkPad 13 Chromebook!

Right now you can pick up Lenovo’s ThinkPad 13 Chromebook at Amazon for just $180, a savings of $95 from its regular price. The Chromebook has a 13.3-inch display with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage built-in. With its two USB-C ports you will be able to quickly transfer information to and from the machine, as well as charge it or another one of your devices. It is also nice and lightweight, coming in at just over 3 pounds and sits at under 1 inch thin.

This deal is only good for today, November 17, so don’t wait too long if you are interested in picking one up.

See at Amazon

Google Assistant needs to be Google consistent

“Ok Google, skip ahead 30 seconds.”

Go ahead and ask that to your Pixel while playing music. A useless web search, right? Now try it on Google Home. It actually works. And that’s the real shame, because this is happening across the board with Google Assistant: commands that work on Pixel don’t work on Home, commands that work on Home don’t work on Pixel, and don’t get me started on the stripped-down version of Assistant Google is trying to peddle on Allo. The fragmentation that Google Assistant has seen in just two months on two products doesn’t inspire confidence for current and potential users.

The fragmentation of Assistant across devices doesn’t inspire confidence.

I was so excited for Google Assistant. As a former Moto X user, I was quite looking forward to seeing an always-listening assistant who could connect and control more devices, more services, more tasks. While a Pixel was out of my price range, a Google Home was affordable (not cheap, but affordable) enough to indulge myself one. While many are dissuaded by the lack of services available at the moment, but as an early adopter of Chromecasts, I know it won’t be like that for long. Once Actions on Google opens up next month to developers, the list of commands Google Assistant recognizes will rise quickly. Not being able to set reminders or watch purchased YouTube videos is a pain, but that’s not the promise being lived down the most right now: it’s consistency.

The Pixel is billed as the first phone with Google Assistant. The Home is billed as a voice-activated speaker powered by Google Assistant. Google Assistant is not just some lofty idea, not some beta that we early adopters get to play with before everyone else; Google Assistant is a selling point. Selling points only succeed if they work, and right now Google Assistant works — barely.

Google Assistant is clearly meant to be a multi-platform assistant, from your watch to your car to your home and everywhere in between. If Google Assistant is going to be in all these places, and the closest/clearest device is going to be responding to your query whenever you cry “Ok Google” then no matter what device you pick up, the response needs to be the same. I should be able to say “Ok Google, skip ahead 30 seconds” in the car with as much success as I say it in the shower to Google Home. If I say “Ok Google, call my mom”, Assistant on Google Home should be able to recognize that it can’t place calls and kick the command back to my phone, just as it kicks the “Answering on another device” message to it every time I use OK Google in earshot of both devices.

Yes, Google Assistant is a service in its infancy, but the products it’s running on are otherwise complete thoughts. The Pixel is the first phone from Google where it feels like a complete thought rather than a beta device for developers, and Google Assistant is one of its secret weapons. Google Home is a powerful little speaker that works wonderfully as a Google Cast target, and its touchpad top is giving me all kinds of clickwheel nostalgia, but $130 is too much for a Cast-speaker alone. Google Home is going to live and die on Google Assistant.

There’s little doubt Google Assistant can be more amazing than voice-enabled chatbot or AI to date… but it needs to be whole to accomplish that, not fragmented across devices and platforms.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Any.do takes on Todoist’s productivity smarts with AI-powered Assistant

Any.do is back for another round of productiveness.

Any.do has been around since the HTC Evo 4G was the best phone you could buy. I’ll just let that sink in for a second.

The productivity app has long been known for its attractive yet spare interface, gesture-friendly controls and extensive feature set, but in recent years has been surpassed by Todoist, Wunderlist and a host of competitors in one main area: context-based assistance.

Today, that changes with Any.do 4.0, which brings an AI-powered Assistant — basically a bot — that plugs into a number of external services to help you get stuff done.

After analyzing over a billion anonymized tasks captured by Any.do, we built a new type of assistant that can actually accomplish your tasks for you. Any.do Assistant automatically scans your list and selectively marks the tasks it can get done for you in the real world, then offers ways to do them.

Like Facebook’s M, which is not widely available outside a few U.S. cities, Any.do Assistant uses a “a combination of smart AIs and smart supervising humans, so you know that even a difficult and nuanced task – like finding your mom the right bracelet for her birthday – will be done right.” That’s why, for now, it is only available in the U.S., too — and, for now, only on iOS, with Android coming soon.

Other features in Any.do 4.0 are more universal: the company has integrated its once-independent Cal calendar app into the core experience, so users can coordinate due dates with particular tasks. There’s also a new “lightning-fast” real-time sync, which delivers instant updates across iOS and Android.

Back to the Assistant, Any.do says that it charges a “reasonable” 5-15% service fee for a connected service. It will be interesting to see whether it will gain traction.

It’s taken a while, but Any.do finally feels like it is the product it was always meant to be, built on a foundation of simplicity, beauty and, now, intelligence.

Huawei’s mid-sized MediaPad M3 tablet coming to the U.S. Nov 17

There’s another nice Android tablet coming to the U.S.

After a long period of European exclusivity, the Huawei MediaPad M3 is finally coming to the U.S.

Starting on November 17, you’ll be able to buy the 8.4-inch tablet that features some of Huawei’s best-ever tablet specs for a fairly reasonable $299. It will be sold through Amazon.

In his review of the tablet, Alex Dobie said that it was a great device let down by mediocre performance likely brought on by a too-high screen resolution:

The major takeaway here: Browsing and media consumption are just fine, but don’t expect the M3 to be a serious gaming tablet. The Kirin 950 simply doesn’t have the graphical horsepower to drive high-end games at 2560×1600.

He also said that the EMUI software, fine on phones, just doesn’t scale well on a tablet:

That said, the experience remains basically just like using an enormous Huawei phone. All our favorite features from EMUI on phones — tight control over background apps for improved battery life, handy tethering features, display tweaks like “eye protection” mode and direct control over screen density — remain intact.

According to Huawei, the MediaPad M3 “features exceptional audio-visual performance, ergonomic design, outstanding battery life, an 8MP camera, and Huawei’s world-leading fingerprint sensor.” These are all good things. The takeaway, though, is more about how few great Android tablets there are these days, and this is one of the best just because it exists.

Interested? Let us know in the comments below!

See at Amazon

PinOut: Tips and Tricks

Endless pinball fun meets Tron-inspired art style in PinOut.

PinOut is an endless pinball game made by Mediocre, the same fine folks that gave the world Smash Hit. You work your way through section after section of futuristic pinball bliss trying to race against the countdown timer — featuring bumpers, rails and scattered power-ups and mini games

Looking to become a PinOut pinball wizard? Here’s our best tips and tricks to get you going.

• Always be aiming for the dots
• Use your flipper wisely
• Choose the right power-up for you
• Save your progress with a premium upgrade
• Make the most of your mini games
• How about that music, eh?

Always be aiming for the dots

The timer is your adversary in PinOut, and the best way to extend your play is to aim for the rails lined with dots. Each dot you collect in PinOut adds one second of time to the timer. Flippers are typically lined up to perfectly hit at least one rail, so you’ll want to quickly determine which flipper has the better angle on hitting the time extension rail, so you can add some time to the clock as you move on to the next section.

Use your flippers wisely

The in-game physics are pretty good, but not quite as realistic as… well, real-world pinball. You can use this to your advantage by learning the timing required to hit the ball at precise angles. Often times you’ll need to hit the flipper when the ball is right at the tip, which takes some practice to get down. For precise shots where you want to take the time to aim, tap and hold to keep the flipper up and cradle the ball until you’re ready to take your shot.

Choose the right power up for you

As you progress through the game, you’ll run across a few bonus targets. Some will trigger mini-games (which we’ll get to soon), and others let you pick between two power-ups. You’ll need to figure out which of these works best with your style of play. Early on, your choices are going to typically be slow motion, which slows down the pace of play, and time freeze, which freezes the timer for ten flipper hits.

I personally found the slow motion power up threw off my rhythm more than anything else, but you may find it helps improve your shot accuracy. Other power-ups you’ll discover later in the game include Motion Link (time only moves when the ball is in motion), Push (changes the controls, allows you to swipe to hit the ball, even away from the flippers), Warp (lets you skip part of a section), and Time Doubler (doubles your time bonuses from dotted rails).

Save your progress with a premium upgrade

If you’ve become hooked on PinOut, you might want to consider paying the in-app charge to upgrade to the premium version. This lets you start the game from a previously reached checkpoint, letting you skip over the earlier levels and focus your efforts on reaching further checkpoints. Again, it’s not necessary to upgrade to premium to really enjoy the game, but if you really like a game, it never hurts to show the developers some love.

Make the most of your mini-games

Occasionally you’ll come across a bonus target that will trigger a quick mini-game that will play at the top of the screen. You find your first one, Lazer Racer, after reaching the first checkpoint. It’s a simple little racing mini-game where you use the flipper controls to switch lanes and avoid crashing into other cars. For every set of cars you pass, a bonus second will be added to the timer. The better you get at playing Lazer Racer and the other mini games you’ll come across in later stages, the more time you can bank early.

How about that music, eh?

On top of the fun gameplay and sharp graphics, PinOut features a pretty awesome soundtrack! It was composed by Douglas Holmquist, and If you’re digging the tunes as you play, you’ll be happy to know that the whole soundtrack is available on BandCamp.

What are your best tips and tricks?

Do you love PinOut as much as we do? Let us know your strategies in the comments!

LA Motor Show 2016 in pictures: The best cars from the AutomobilityLA show floor

Los Angeles: Hollywood, sun, sand, silicon and celebrity.

But it’s also the USA’s home of car culture. Every November a major motor show rolls into town, where the traditional big car brands’ satellite studios show their thinking about what will be happening years down the road.

But the LA show has changed this year. As the car market adapts and technology continues to become a core focus, the once-called LA Auto Show has become AutomobilityLA to reflect this.

The show now features a tech-heavy conference programme and tent full of start-up mobility ideas.

Yet cars still play centre stage. And in LA this year it was that antithesis of ecology, the SUV, that took centre stage.

Here, we round-up the key cars currently on display in the Los Angeles Convention Center.

• Click through our AutomobilityLA highlights gallery to see all the important cars

Black Friday UK smartwatch deals: The smartwatch deals online

With Black Friday just around the corner, held on 25 November this year, there will no doubt be a few smartwatch deals to be had.

With a range of smartwatches being produced now by various manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, Pebble and more, there are plenty of different designs, styles and functionality to choose from.

Whether you’re shopping for a watch as a gift for Christmas or as a treat for yourself, keep an eye on this page as we’ll be updating it with the best smartwatch deals we find as the days tick by from now through to Black Friday and beyond.

Amazon Black Friday smartwatch deals

Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are probably the most popular and well-known on the web. With Amazon’s Black Friday sales already starting early there’s bound to be some excellent smartwatches on offer.

• Sony Mobile SWR50 SmartWatch 3 brown leather for £142.47 (save £87.52) – click here for this smartwatch deal
• Pebble Smartwatch – Pink for £39.90 (save £40.09) – click here for this deal

Currys/PC World Black Friday smartwatch deals

When it comes to tech and gadgets, Currys and PC World always have a great range. This Black Friday and in the run up to Christmas, there’s the promise of 1000’s of “unmissable Christmas deals”, so we’ll be monitoring their offers to find great smartwatch bargains for you.

Currys/PC World also has a price promise that applies to Black Friday prices as well, so shopping around and comparing prices could pay off even more! Smartwatch deals here currently include:

• Sony SmartWatch 3 Classic SWR50 for £79.99 (save £20) – click here to get this deal
• Huawei Classic Smartwatch with black leather strap for £239 (save £50) – click here to get this deal

Argos Black Friday smartwatch deals

Argos is officially starting its Black Friday deals on the 25 November but, in the meantime, there are still some smartwatch offers to look out for.  Remember when Black Friday comes around, the advantage of using Argos is to order a deal online and it’ll hold it at the local store for you for seven days and avoid the queues or the slow seasonal deliveries.

Current smartwatch deals at Argos include:

• Apple Watch 38mm Rose Gold Case & Royal Blue Woven Band for £199 (save £60) – click here for this smartwatch deal
• Garmin Vivomove Premium – Gold-Tone Steel and Leather for £189 (save £50) – click here for this deal
• Apple Watch Sport 38mm Silver Case & White Band for £199 (save £60) – click here for this deal
• Pebble Classic Fitness Smartwatch – Red for £49.95 (save £30) – click here for this smartwatch deal
• Apple Watch 42mm Space Gray Case and Black Woven Strap for £249 (save £50) – click here for this deal

More Black Friday UK deals

• Best Black Friday UK phone deals: Apple, Samsung, Android phone deals galore
• Best Black Friday UK TV deals: 4K, HDR, OLED TVs and more
• Best Black Friday UK games deals: Amazing PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo deals
• Black Friday UK laptop deals: The best laptop deals online
• Best Black Friday 2016 UK camera deals: DSLR, compact and system camera bargains
• Best Black Friday UK tablet deals: iPad, Android, Surface, Amazon and more

How about a drone to help you catch fish?

If you’re looking to improve the quality of your catch, or just terrorize the local fish, you should check out AguaDrone. As the name implies, it’s a drone that’s been specifically designed to operate on water for those fishy and outdoorsy types in your friend circle. As well as being fully waterproof, the device can land on and take off from bodies of both fresh and salt water. But AguaDrone’s real strength is that it can carries a series of swappable pods that’ll enable you to hunt down, film and catch those prized fish who aren’t so easy to find.

The most useful of the pods is a sonar fish finder that’ll send images of the local area to your smartphone or tablet over WiFi. The sensor pod is also capable of identifying the water’s depth and temperature, which it can identify of depths of up to 140 feet. There’s also a line casting pod that’ll carry your bait out — so long as it weighs under two pounds — as far as you can go. Finally, there’s a waterproof camera that’ll let you shoot video from under the surface for some pretty exciting home videos.

If there’s a downside to all of this, it’s that fully waterproof drones with sonar sensors and cameras don’t come cheap. AguaDrone is asking for your patronage on Kickstarter, with the “fisherman’s kit” setting you back $1,199 with delivery estimated for February 2017. Early birds more interested in the waterproof drone itself can pick up a bare-bones package with just a battery and remote for $699. Should, of course, enough people chip in to enable the firm to reach its $69,000 goal.

Source: Kickstarter