director – Page 13 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

All the major new additions in the iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4 betas

Enlarge / Devices running iOS 10. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) As predicted yesterday, now that Apple has the iOS 10.2.1 and macOS 10.12.3 releases out the door, it’s turning its attention to larger updates. Apple is releasing the first betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4 to the public today and has given us a broad overview of the biggest changes that people will see when these are released to the public in a couple of months. The iOS 10.3 update is the more significant of the two. For starters, it adds AirPods to Find My iPhone to make them easier to find if you lose them, which, given how small they are, is bound to happen to AirPod owners eventually. Most of the other changes come in the form of small additions to existing features. SiriKit , which can already hook into compatible payment and ride-sharing apps, can now be used to pay bills and check on the status of payments. You’ll also be able to schedule a ride with Siri—calling an Uber to come at 2pm rather than “right now,” for instance. The weather icon in Maps can be 3D Touched on compatible devices (the iPhone 6S and 7 series, as of this writing) to show hourly forecasts and other information. The CarPlay UI picks up shortcuts for launching the two most recently used apps and can display EV charging stations in Maps. HomeKit now supports programmable light switches. Facemarks on the Chinese and Japanese keyboards have been shuffled around to make it easier to type, and the Conversation View that Mail picked up in iOS 10 has gotten some “navigation improvements.” Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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All the major new additions in the iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4 betas

iOS 10.2.1 is all about fixing bugs and patching security holes

Enlarge (credit: Andrew Cunningham) After several weeks of beta testing, Apple has released iOS 10.2.1 to the public today. The update is fairly minor and includes no major improvements to core iOS apps or features. The release notes say only that it fixes bugs and includes security improvements. The security page for the update lists a number of vulnerabilities in the kernel, WebKit, and the Contacts app that have all been fixed. Apple also addressed a bug that could allow attackers to briefly access the home screen on an Activation Locked iPad that had been reset . The update is available for everything that runs iOS 10: the iPhone 5 and newer, the fourth-generation iPad and newer, the iPad Mini 2 and newer, both iPad Pros, and the sixth-generation iPod Touch. Small updates for watchOS 3 and tvOS 10 , both of which are iOS-based, have been released as well. The release of iOS 10.2.1 clears the deck for betas of iOS 10.3, which is likely to be the final major revision to iOS 10 before work begins in earnest on iOS 11. We don’t know much about what Apple plans to include in this next update, but older rumors suggest that it may renew focus on the iPad in advance of some new tablet launches in the spring. Hope also springs eternal about a dark mode for iOS. Read on Ars Technica | Comments

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iOS 10.2.1 is all about fixing bugs and patching security holes

That critical “ImageTragick” bug Ars warned you about? It cost Facebook $40k

Last May, Ars reported that a critical vulnerability in a widely used image-processing application left a huge number of websites open to attacks that allowed hackers to execute malicious code on the underlying servers. More than five months later, Facebook paid a $40,000 bounty after discovering it was among those at risk. On Tuesday, researcher Andrey Leonov, said he was able to exploit the vulnerability in the ImageMagick application by using a tunneling technique based on the domain name system that bypassed Facebook firewalls. The firewalls had successfully protected against his earlier exploit attempts. Large numbers of websites use ImageMagick to quickly resize images uploaded by users. “I am glad to be the one of those who broke the Facebook,” Leonov wrote in a blog post that gave a blow-by-blow account of how he exploited the ImageMagick vulnerability. Two days after the researcher privately shared the exploit with Facebook security personnel, they patched their systems. Ten days after that, they paid Leonov $40,000, one of the biggest bounties Facebook has ever paid. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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That critical “ImageTragick” bug Ars warned you about? It cost Facebook $40k

Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes will launch on Android before iOS

iOS users will have to wait longer for Nintendo’s next major smartphone game release. Nintendo’s push towards smartphone gaming will continue on February 2 with the launch of Fire Emblem Heroes , a touch-only take on the company’s longtime tactical RPG series—and possibly the company’s most micro-transaction driven game yet. Like Super Mario Run before it, Fire Emblem Heroes will have a period of platform exclusivity—but in a surprise twist, that exclusivity is reversed. Android users will get first crack at Heroes on that release date, while iOS users have been told their version is coming “soon.” (For an estimate of how long the left-behind platform might have to wait, remember: Super Mario Run has yet to launch on Android over a month after its iOS release.) During this announcement, Nintendo did not mention Animal Crossing , the other series set to receive a smartphone port in the near future. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes will launch on Android before iOS

Windows is getting its own built-in book store in the Creators Update

Enlarge (credit: MSPoweruser ) The Windows Store—which already includes apps, games, movies, and TV shows—is going to include books in the Creators Update. This is according to pictures obtained by MSPoweruser . Based on images from an internal Windows 10 Mobile build, books will have their own dedicated section within the Store. The whole process will work much the same way as it does for any other purchase. It appears that Microsoft is not building a dedicated reading application for these purchases. Instead, the Edge browser in the Creators Update has been updated to include support for EPUB books, affording some customization of their appearance in the browser’s reading mode. This isn’t Microsoft’s first foray into the electronic book world. Long, long ago it had an app called Reader, which supported a proprietary HTML-based format. Reader was developed for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile, and notably, it was in Reader that Microsoft first used ClearType sub-pixel anti-aliasing. A Reader app was also available for desktop Windows, though not Windows Phone. The company even had its own online catalog of e-books using its proprietary format, which linked to third-party sites actually selling the books. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Windows is getting its own built-in book store in the Creators Update

Private company says it is fully funded for mission to the Moon

An artist’s concept of Moon Express’ MX-1 lander on the surface of the Moon. (credit: Moon Express) Any organization wishing to accomplish a major spaceflight goal must address two basic sets of problems—rocket science and political science. And while the technical challenges of spaceflight are considerable, it’s arguable that political science remains the greater of these two hurdles. Building spacecraft and rockets requires lots of money, after all, and due to international law they can’t just be launched from anywhere to anywhere. So it is no small achievement for the private, US-based Moon Express to have conquered the political science part of sending a rover to the Moon. Last August, after a lengthy regulatory process, the company received permission from the US government to send a commercial mission beyond low Earth orbit. And on Friday, the company announced that it has successfully raised an additional $20 million, meaning it has full funding for its maiden lunar mission. “Now it’s just about the rocket science stuff,” said company co-founder and Chief Executive Bob Richards. That, he realizes, remains a formidable challenge. Moon Express is one of five entrants in the Google Lunar X Prize competition to finalize a launch contract. Each of the teams is competing to become the first to send a rover to the lunar surface by the end of this year, have it travel 500 meters, and transmit high-definition imagery back to Earth. First prize is $20 million. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Private company says it is fully funded for mission to the Moon

Congress will consider proposal to raise H-1B minimum wage to $100,000

Enlarge / Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is one of two sponsors on an H-1B reform bill. He’s pictured here House Republican Conference meeting in 2015. (credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty) President-Elect Donald Trump is just a week away from taking office. From the start of his campaign, he has promised big changes to the US immigration system. For both Trump’s advisers and members of Congress, the H-1B visa program, which allows many foreign workers to fill technology jobs, is a particular focus. One major change to that system is already under discussion: making it harder for companies to use H-1B workers to replace Americans by simply giving the foreign workers a raise. The “Protect and Grow American Jobs Act,” introduced last week by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and Scott Peters, D-Calif., would significantly raise the wages of workers who get H-1B visas. If the bill becomes law, the minimum wage paid to H-1B workers would rise to at least $100,000 annually, and be adjusted it for inflation. Right now, the minimum is $60,000. The sponsors say that would go a long way towards fixing some of the abuses of the H-1B program, which critics say is currently used to simply replace American workers with cheaper, foreign replacements. In 2013, the top nine companies acquiring H-1B visas were technology outsourcing firms, according to an analysis by a critic of the H-1B program. (The 10th is Microsoft.) The thinking goes that if minimum H-1B salaries are brought closer to what high-skilled tech employment really pays, the economic incentive to use it as a worker-replacement program will drop off. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

How hackers made life hell for a CIA boss and other top US officials

Enlarge (credit: Flickr user Erica Zabowski ) A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy that illegally accessed the e-mail and social media accounts of Central Intelligence Director John Brennan and other senior government officials and then used that access to leak sensitive information and make personal threats. Justin Gray Liverman, 24, of Morehead City, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, commit identity theft, and make harassing, anonymous phone calls, federal prosecutors said Friday . Among the 10 people targeted in the conspiracy were Brennan; then-Deputy FBI Director Mark Giuliano; National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper; Greg Mecher, the husband of White House Communication Director Jen Psaki; and other government officials. The group called itself Crackas with Attitude, and it was led by a co-conspirator going by the name of Cracka. “She talks mad shit abt snowden,” Liverman said on December 10, 2015 in an online chat with Cracka, referring to a target who is believed to be Psaki, according to a statement of facts signed by Liverman and filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. (The document refers to Mecher and Psaki as Victim 3 and the spouse of Victim 3 respectively.) “If you come across anything related to [Victim 3’s spouse] let me know. If you find her cell or home number omg gimme.” Liverman went on to say he wanted to “phonebomb the shitt [sic] outta” Psaki. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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How hackers made life hell for a CIA boss and other top US officials

Yahoo to change name to Altaba once Verizon buys brand and operations

(credit: Photograph by Randy Stewart ) Yahoo, one of the Internet’s most venerable companies, won’t exist for much longer. Verizon confirmed plans to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion in July , and a new financial filing from Yahoo includes details of what’s going to happen next. However, Verizon has promised that—if the increasingly bumpy buyout completes—the Yahoo brand will live on. July’s proposed sale included the firm’s operating business, but it didn’t include the big chunk of Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba owned by Yahoo, and it didn’t include certain other assets, mostly shares of Asia-based companies and non-core patents. What remains, according to SEC paperwork filed on Monday, will be rolled into a publicly-traded investment company called Altaba. The size of the board will be reduced to five directors, and many key executives will leave, including—as expected—Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Yahoo co-founder David Filo. Also out are Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw, and Maynard Webb. The departures are not “due to any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices,” Yahoo’s filing said. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Yahoo to change name to Altaba once Verizon buys brand and operations

Breakthrough Starshot to fund planet-hunting hardware for telescope

Enlarge / The VISIR instrument before its impending upgrades. (credit: ESO ) Today, the European Southern Observatory announced an agreement with Breakthrough Starshot, the group dedicated to sending hardware to return data from the nearest stars. The agreement would see Breakthrough Starshot fund the development of new hardware that would allow the ESO’s Very Large Telescope to become an efficient planet hunter. The goal is presumably to confirm there’s something in the Alpha Centauri system worth sending hardware to image. Breakthrough Starshot’s audacious plan involves using ground-based lasers and light sails to accelerate tiny craft to a significant fraction of the speed of light. This would allow the craft to visit the stars of the Alpha Centauri system within decades. The company’s goal is to get data back to Earth while many of the people alive today are still around. Getting meaningful data requires a detailed understanding of the Alpha Centauri system, which is where the new telescope hardware will come in. Last year, scientists confirmed the existence of an exoplanet orbiting the closest star of the three-star system, Proxima Centauri. But we’ll want to know significantly more about it, its orbit, and whether there are signs of any other planets in the system before we send spacecraft. The other two stars of Alpha Centauri are also worth a closer look. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments