Reuters reports that Apple has “completed work” on its rumored cloud-based music service and will beat Google to the punch as the search and advertising giant continues to work on a similar project.
Apple Inc has completed work on an online music storage service and is set to launch it ahead of Google Inc, whose own music efforts have stalled, according to several people familiar with both companies’ plans.
Apple’s plans will allow iTunes customers to store their songs on a remote server, and then access them from wherever they have an Internet connection, said two of these people who asked not to be named as the talks are still confidential.
Interestingly, the sources indicate that Apple still has yet to sign any of the major labels to new agreements covering the forthcoming cloud-based capabilities, making it unclear how the sources can be so confident that Apple will beat Google to a launch. Apple has reportedly not yet informed music industry insiders of when it intends to launch the new cloud-based service.
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Apple’s Phil Schiller reportedly confirms the forthcoming release of a white iPhone.
Follow this link:
White iPhone 4 ‘Coming in Spring’
ZDNet reports that a MacBook running Safari was the first machine to fall victim to a security exploit in the PWN2OWN hacker challenge at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Canada. French security researchers compromised the MacBook and launched code within five seconds of contacting the machine, winning a $15,000 cash prize and a new 13-inch MacBook Air for their efforts.
VUPEN co-founder Chaouki Bekrar lured a target MacBook to a specially rigged website and successfully launched a calculator on the compromised machine.
The hijacked machine was running a fully patched version of Mac OS X (64-bit).
In an interview with ZDNet, Bekrar said the vulnerability exists in WebKit, the open-source browser rendering engine. A three-man team of researchers spent about two weeks to find the vulnerability (using fuzzers) and writing a reliable exploit.
While Bekrar noted some difficulties in preparing the exploit due to a lack of documentation on how to exploit 64-bit Mac OS X code, his team was ultimately able to bypass several anti-exploit tactics included in Mac OS X to demonstrate how a machine could become comprised simply by visiting a malicious webpage and without crashing the browser.
Macs have become popular targets for researchers seeking to find security holes, with CanSecWest being a major forum for discussion and demonstration of their work. In 2007, the conference sponsored a “Hack a Mac” contest with a $10,000 cash prize, although organizers did have to loosen the contest rules before researchers succeeded in compromising a MacBook.
The following year, a MacBook Air was the first to be compromised at PWN2OWN, falling victim to a exploit initiated through Safari. Apple released a Safari update just a few weeks later to address that issue. And in 2010, noted researcher Charlie Miller used the conference to expose 20 zero-day holes in Mac OS X, claiming that Mac users’ infrequent run-ins with hackers have primarily been due to “security by obscurity”, with most malicious hackers preferring to attack Windows platforms with substantially larger user bases.
Notably, Apple is said to have reached out to security researchers for the first time with the initial developer build of Mac OS X Lion, inviting them to test out the forthcoming operating system in hopes of finding and patching as many holes as possible before Lion reaches customers’ hands later this year.
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Alongside new MacBook Pros, Apple today announced the release of the first developer preview version of Mac OS X Lion. First demoed last October, Mac OS X Lion is set for a public launch this summer.
Apple today released a developer preview of Mac OS X Lion, which takes some of the best ideas from iPad and brings them back to the Mac for the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Lion features Mission Control, an innovative new view of everything running on your Mac; Launchpad, a new home for all your Mac apps; full screen apps that use the entire Mac display; and new Multi-Touch gestures. Lion also includes the Mac App Store, the best place to discover, install and automatically update Mac apps. The Lion preview is available to Mac Developer Program members through the Mac App Store today, and the final version of Lion will ship to customers this summer.
Apple also outlines a number of other features to be found in Lion:
- Mail, a new version of Mail, with an elegant, widescreen layout inspired by the iPad; Conversations, which automatically groups related messages into one easy to read timeline; more powerful search; and support for Microsoft Exchange 2010;
- Versions, which automatically saves successive versions of your document as you create it, and gives you an easy way to browse, edit and even revert to previous versions;
- AirDrop, a remarkably simple way to copy files wirelessly from one Mac to another with no setup;
- Resume, which conveniently brings your apps back exactly how you left them when you restart your Mac or quit and relaunch an app;
- Auto Save, which automatically saves your documents as you work;
- the all new FileVault, that provides high performance full disk encryption for local and external drives, and the ability to wipe data from your Mac instantaneously; and
- Mac OS X Lion Server, which makes setting up a server easier than ever and adds support for managing Mac OS X Lion, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.
An updated overview of Mac OS X Lion is available on Apple’s feature page for the forthcoming update.
Update: Here are some additional features we’ve learned:
- In 10.7, windows may be resized from all edges and corners, and the resize indicator has been removed.
- Support for OpenGL 3.2 on capable hardware.
- Application persistance. Apps and their states are saved when you logout and back in. Background apps may be terminated by Mac OS X and will restore if the user picks them again. Basically the concept of open and closed apps is gone.
Video showing new gestures/animations:
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Apple yesterday published a series of three updates for Mac App Store developers to its news and announcements page, offering several tips for those preparing their applications for submission to the forthcoming store.
The most important update for general users addresses demo, trial, and beta versions of software intended for distribution through the Mac App Store. Apple notes that developers should not submit these versions for inclusion in the Mac App Store and should instead distribute them through their own sites while limiting Mac App Store distribution to full retail versions of their applications.
Your website is the best place to provide demos, trial versions, or betas of your software for customers to explore. The apps you submit to be reviewed for the Mac App Store should be fully functional, retail versions of your apps.
Apple’s other two updates point to sections of Apple’s developer-only documentation, reminding those working on applications where to find resources for developing custom interface control elements that comply with Apple’s interface guidelines and to make sure that they are properly utilizing the Mac OS X file system to store files related to their applications in appropriate locations on users’ computers.
Apple announced at its October 20th media event that the Mac App Store would debut for users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard within 90 days, meaning that a launch would be expected to occur by mid-January.
The company began accepting submissions for the Mac App Store one month ago and appears to be preparing Mac OS X 10.6.6 to support the store.
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A pair of reports today are rekindling anticipation for the next-generation iPad, with one note from DigiTimes suggesting that Apple has already locked in an initial set of circuit board suppliers for the forthcoming device, with more suppliers set to come online in February to support what is expected to be a very significant build rate.
Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies have been named as the initial PCB suppliers for a second-generation Apple tablet PC, which is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2011. Four more suppliers will be added to the list in February 2011, when shipments of the new iPads ramp up, according to industry sources.
The sources said Ibiden, Tripod and TTM have received certification from Apple, and will start shipping any-layer HDI boards for iPad 2 in small quantities in December, the sources said.
Separately, Apple has been rumored by Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair to have adopted a “world mode” GSM/CDMA chip from Qualcomm to provide cellular data access for the next-generation iPad.
“Recent checks… suggest Apple is going to be ratcheting down production of the existing 3G iPad over the next two months in anticipation of ramping up a new World iPad that is powered by Qualcomm and will run on both GSM and CDMA based networks around the world,” Blair writes.
Such a move would allow CDMA carriers such as Verizon to offer an iPad directly compatible with their networks, avoiding the need for the packaging of Wi-Fi-only iPads with MiFi mobile hotspot devices currently offered by the carrier.
The report goes on to note that the next-generation iPad will include at least a front-facing camera, which appears to be a given considering the company’s recent focus on FaceTime video chatting, although some reports have claimed that Apple will also include a rear-facing camera. Finally, Blair claims that the next-generation iPad will be thinner than the current model and will require a new manufacturing process to create the thinner unibody design.
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id Software has launched its highly-anticipated RAGE first-person shooter for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. A scaled-down version of the forthcoming game scheduled for release in late 2011 on PC/Mac and console platforms, the iOS version of RAGE is known as Mutant Bash TV! and offers a storyline in which the player participates in a post-apocalyptic game show to battle against mutants.
RAGE comes to your mobile device with the hit of the wastelands, Mutant Bash TV! This intense first-person rail shooter casts you in the starring role of a post-apocalyptic game show where you’ll be stalked by hungry mutants while you scour pulse-pounding levels for ammo and cash pick-ups. Make a deal with J.K Stiles, the show’s menacing host, and see if you have what it takes to survive this carnage-filled carnival of death!
RAGE is available in two universal versions, a standard version priced at $0.99 and RAGE HD priced at $1.99 and offering higher-resolution graphics for the iPad, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch.
id’s John Carmack teased RAGE for iOS back in August at QuakeCon 2010, showing a demo of the game running at 60 frames per second. Our friends over at TouchArcade were able to get their hands on a prerelease version of RAGE for iOS earlier this month and offered an overview of the gameplay and impressive graphics included on the sample levels.
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AppleInsider reports that the next version of Apple’s productivity suite, iWork ’11, is ready for launch but will likely debut alongside the company’s Mac App Store very early in 2011.
People familiar with the matter say development of iWork ’11 wrapped up this fall and the software was initially slated for an introduction alongside iLife ’11 last month, but was held back at the last minute for undisclosed reasons.
Apple’s revised plans currently call for the company to launch the new productivity suite alongside the forthcoming Mac App Store, these same people say. The applications included in the bundle — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — will be available for purchase individually when the Mac App Store debuts.
According to the report, Apple is still deciding whether to offer a retail box version of iWork ’11 or if it will be available exclusively through the Mac App Store.
Promotional materials for the Mac App Store have shown the three iWork applications, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, available on an individual basis for $19.99 each, below Apple’s current $79 price for the complete retail box suite.
Apple announced at its “Back to the Mac” media event on October 20th that the Mac App Store would launch within 90 days, meaning that the store would have to debut by January 18th, 2011 in order to reach Apple’s stated timetable. The company last week began accepting submissions from developers seeking to have their applications included in the Mac App Store.
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In a rather unusual move, Apple today seeded the first developer version of Mac OS X 10.6.6, known as Build 10J521, even before the company has publicly released Mac OS X 10.6.5.
As 9 to 5 Mac notes, there are no documented known issues in the build and the seed notes mention a focus on support for the forthcoming Mac App Store.
- Contains developer support for fetching and renewing App Store receipts. See “Validating App Store Receipts” for more details.
Interestingly, the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update is only 3.7 MB in size, suggesting only very minor tweaks at this point.
The unusual early seeding of Mac OS X 10.6.6 relative to its predecessor and the apparent requirement of Mac OS X 10.6.6 for certain Mac App Store functions suggest that Apple is likely fast-tracking the operating system update for release in the not-so-distant future.
Apple announced during its October 20th media event that the Mac App Store would launch on Mac OS X Snow Leopard within 90 days, and just yesterday the company began accepting submissions from developers for inclusion in the Mac App Store.
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AppAdvice posts a brief video preview of the first beta version of iOS 4.2 for iPad, which was released just a few hours ago. The primary feature shown off in the walkthrough is multitasking, which allows users to easily jump back and forth between applications. Also featured are the universal inbox for email and a brief view of the launch screen for Apple’s Game Center service.
According to some notes accompanying the video, the iPad allows for users to view seven application in the multitasking tray in landscape mode and six apps in portrait mode. In addition, AirPlay can be activated directly from the Photos application, allowing users to stream their content to the forthcoming Apple TV revision.
Apple’s new AirPrint service, which currently requires interfacing with a Mac running the latest Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta, is not addressed in the walkthrough.
Update: Engadget has also posted a video preview of iOS 4.2 on the iPad, focusing on multitasking.
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