Apple Blocks Java 7 Plug-in on OS X to Address Widespread Security Threat

As noted by ZDNet, a major security vulnerability in Java 7 has been discovered, with the vulnerability currently being exploited in the wild by malicious parties. In response to threat, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has recommended that users disable the Java 7 browser plug-in entirely until a patch is made available by Oracle.

Hackers have discovered a weakness in Java 7 security that could allow the installation of malicious software and malware on machines that could increase the chance of identity theft, or the unauthorized participation in a botnet that could bring down networks or be used to carry out denial-of-service attacks against Web sites. 

"We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," said the DHS' Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) in a post on its Web site on Thursday evening. "This vulnerability is being attacked in the wild, and is reported to be incorporated into exploit kits. Exploit code for this vulnerability is also publicly available."

Apple has, however, apparently already moved quickly to address the issue, disabling the Java 7 plug-in on Macs where it is already installed. Apple has achieved this by updating its "Xprotect.plist" blacklist to require a minimum of an as-yet unreleased 1.7.0_10-b19 version of Java 7. With the current publicly-available version of Java 7 being 1.7.0_10-b18, all systems running Java 7 are failing to pass the check initiated through the anti-malware system built into OS X.

[Source: MacRumors]

Cheap iPhone will 'never be the future of Apple'

Speaking to the Shanghai Evening News, Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller ruled out the possibility of a cheap phone from the Californian company.

A budget version of the iPhone is heavily rumoured. The iPhone 5S or iPhone mini or whatever it might be called would take on the wide range of Android smart phones that are more affordable than the iPhone. But Schiller points out that despite iPhone sales making up about a fifth of the phone market, "we own 75 per cent of the profit".

A cheaper iPhone would increase the first number, market share, but the lower revenue generated by each sale means the impact on the second number wouldn't necessarily be worth devaluing the brand. Apple has meticulously carved out a premium reputation for its products, and a budget phone could damage that.

That said, Schiller is talking about cheap phones in the sense of phones that lack the quality of pricier blowers. But with the iPad mini, and before it iPod spin-offs like the iPod mini and iPod nano, Apple has a history of making devices that are still of the same high quality but are, whisper it, cheaper. We still won't rule out an iPhone mini completely.

On the other hand, you could argue that we already have a cheaper iPhone: it's called theiPhone 4. And you could argue that we already have an iPhone mini -- it's called the iPod touch.

[Source: CNET]

Apple: 40 Billion Apps Downloaded to Date, Nearly Half of Those in 2012

Apple announced Monday that there have been more than 40 billion app downloads from its iTunes App Store to date.

Surprisingly, nearly half of those downloads were during 2012 alone, which just goes to show the incredible growth that Apple’s store has gone through the past year — especially as new devices, such as the fourth generation iPad, the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini begin to take the market by storm. The popular game Temple Run, for example, has already been downloaded 75 million times since its release.

The iTunes App Store now offers more than 775,000 iPhone apps and 300,000 applications for the iPad.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

The Apple Store begins offering Retina 15″ MacBook Pro refurbs starting at $1869

This evening, Apple began offering refurbished Retina MacBook Pros at the online Apple Store at significant 15% discounts, yielding savings of over $500 on high end models (below). 15-inch Retina MacBooks normally retail at $2200 but we’ve seen them as low as $2,000 (which is also the EDU discount price).

Apple refurbished products are packaged and look like new and come with the same one year of AppleCare. See all of the best prices on Apple Products on our Apple product pages.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Fusion Drive Now Available as Option for Low End 21.5" iMac

As noted by MacGeneration and in our MacRumors Forums, Apple is now allowing the entry level 21.5" iMac to be configured with a 1TB Fusion Drive. 
The Fusion Drive is a built-to-order option for the iMac and Mac mini that combines SSD and traditional hard drives into a single logical volume.

With Fusion Drive in your iMac, disk-intensive tasks — from booting up to launching apps to importing photos — are faster and more efficient. That’s because frequently used items are kept at the ready on speedy flash storage, while infrequently accessed items go to the hard drive. The file transfers take place in the background, so you won’t even notice.

The 1TB Fusion Drive add-on is a $250 option and was previously only offered on the high end 21.5" iMac, high end Mac mini and 27" iMacs.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple rumoured to be making a smart watch with Intel

Tech-infused watches have been very hit-and-miss over the years. For every Pebble watch gaining plaudits, there's an LG Watchphone that sinks without a trace. While they are becoming more popular, in various guises, none have really become an essential part of our tech get-up.

Well that could change soon, if a rumour from Chinese site Tech 163 (via PocketNow) is to be believed. Because Apple is rumoured to be working with Intel on a smart watch that could go on sale in the first half of 2013. And if Apple gets involved, expect others to up their game, sharpish.

The timepiece is rumoured to have a 1.5-inch OLED screen with indium tin oxide coated glass. It'll run iOS, which is no great surprise.

So could the rumour be true? Despite the many failed attempts, techy timepieces are improving. Sony launched an Android-powered time-teller this year, and devices like the Pebble e-paper watch gained a lot of attention on Kickstarter recently. Nike's Fuelband -- which monitors your activity to keep you fit -- while not strictly a watch, is a wrist-based piece of tech that's been a huge success. Apple's previous iPod nano could be worn as a watch as well -- just slot it into a strap. So we are getting more used to wearing our tech on our wrists.

I think if Apple was to venture into watch territory, it would be more of a 'hobby' product than a huge launch. Maybe as an extension of the old iPod nano, with a few fitness apps to rival Nike's Fuelband. Apple tends to wait until a product area is quite mature before going into it, so it can learn from others, so it could be the time is almost right. But let's wait and see.

[Source: CNET]

Google launches web ad promoting its iOS Dev team, encourages iOS developers to do work that ‘matters’

Since the removal of YouTube, and Maps as preloaded Google apps within iOS, Google has been especially adept at developing its own set of iOS apps. We previously detailed how Google wants to own the iOS ecosystem on the apps level, providing users with an alternative universe to most of the core features of Apple’s mobile operating system. It appears Google now has a dedicated iOS app team which builds cohesive apps rather than having each business unit build its own apps.

Even with its dominance on the App Store top charts as of late, Google has launched a web ad campaign, including on the 9to5 sites, promoting its presence throughout iOS. Google detailed what its iOS apps have to offer in the video above, including: Google Search, YouTube, Chrome, and Gmail. Google Maps is noticeably absent (we assumed that is because of when this ad was made).

The focal point of the advertisement is Google’s attempt to recruit software engineers for its iOS mobile apps team. “Do cool things that matter” the advertisement brags, almost as if Apple’s set of apps doesn’t bring any benefit to iOS users. The advertisement links to a page with a full breakdown of what the Google iOS mobile apps team has to offer and a chance for prospective employees to apply for a job. “It’s fun. People have misconception that we just copy and paste existing Google products to the iOS platform. But we have a lot of freedom and try to innovate beyond anything that Google’s done so far,” the page states. “We are always working on ideas to push the envelope on mobile search, and we collaborate closely with Google Web Search engineers to implement new features.” Interestingly, the iOS mobile apps team appears to be working as one unit now, rather than each app being done by a separate group.

It is true that Google’s iOS apps have their own distinctive design language, much different from their Android counterparts. As an example, critics claimed that the Maps application on iOS is better than the Android app—something that Google doesn’t dispute.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

MacBook Air, MacBook Pro refreshes expected June 2013 with same designs, new processors

Digitimes expects Apple to unveil refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models in June 2013. The report claims that Apple has already issued requests to its supply chain partners to prepare to build the revised notebooks. Digitimes frames the news as concern for Ultrabook vendors.

Digitimes also says that the new MacBook Air models will include new processors, but the computers will likely retain the current industrial design. The current MacBook Air design was introduced with the late 2010 model. Apple last updated the MacBook Airs in June 2012 with faster processors, new RAM and storage options, USB 3.0, and a FaceTime HD camera.

Separately, the report also believes that current MacBook Air models could see price drops ahead of the product refresh, but this would be unlike Apple’s typical Mac upgrade strategy. Apple’s common Mac update strategy is to succeed a current Mac model with the refreshed version without providing official price drops ahead of these refreshes.

[Source: 9to5Mac - Click here to ready the full story]

Tim Cook on the Urgency of Solving Problems, Unpredictability of Apple, and Industry Disruption

Following yesterday's announcement that Apple CEO Tim Cook had been named to the shortlist for TIME's annual Person of the Year feature, the magazine has published a lengthy profile of Cook today covering his runner-up status. 

Much of the information in the profile has been discussed in other settings, but it offers a good overview of Cook and his time at Apple. The piece also offers a few fresh quotes from Cook about his perspective and his role in leading Apple. The report touches on Cook's combination of calm demeanor and intense focus, noting that he can just as easily lighten the mood with his manner as light fires under others to spur them to action.

[Source: MacRumors - Click here to read more]

Apple Reminds Developers of App Store Freeze During Holidays

Apple has sent reminders to App Store developers that the annual shutdown of iTunes Connect is scheduled to take place from Friday, December 21, 2012 to Friday, December 28th, 2012. 

iTunes Connect is the portal for developers to submit app updates and changes. As a result, no new apps, app updates or price changes will be reflected in the App Store during that time.

We strongly recommend that you do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the App Store and your app or In-App Purchase will become unavailable for purchase until after the shutdown. 

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012 will not go live on the App Store until after the shutdown.

As a result of the shutdown deadline, a large number of App developers have been cutting prices today as they compete for top ranking on the App Store Top Charts during the lucrative Christmas sales period.

[Source: MacRumors]

iOS 6 Adoption Up 29% After Google Maps Hits App Store

Google Maps was released for iOS on December 12, and in the five days after it hit the App Store, ad management platform MoPub noticed a 29 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users. 

The data from MoPub, which supports 12,000 apps and monitors 1 billion ad impressions daily, suggests that quite a few iDevice owners were waiting for a better mapping solution before upgrading to Apple's newest operating system.

TechCrunch spoke to MoPub CEO Jim Payne, who had this to say:

"We observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it's related to Google Maps. It verifies that hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available."

MoPub's data does, however, conflict with another report from mobile ad network Chitika, which saw just a 0.2 percentage point increase in iOS 6 users in the first 36 hours of Google Maps availability. MoPub seems to include a wider set of data than Chitika and which was taken over a longer period of time, and MoPub's inclusion of weekend data in particular seems to have contributed significantly to the observed increase in adoption, as people may have been waiting to do the lengthy update to iOS 6. 

An increased iOS 6 adoption rate following the launch of Google Maps not only benefits Google, but also Apple, which naturally wants as many users as possible on its latest operating system version. With Google's mapping solution now taking some of the pressure off of Apple's own flawed product, one major reason holding some users back from updating to iOS 6 has been addressed.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple releases iOS 6.0.2 update for iPhone 5 and iPad mini, promises fix for WiFi bug

It doesn't look to bring with it any major changes, but Apple has just released its latest iOS update, which takes things up to version 6.0.2. According to the company, this one primarily addresses a bug that "could impact WiFi." An issue that, incidentally, has been at the center of a number of previous iOS updates. You should be able to find the update now or in the near future in either iTunes or Software Update on your iOS device.

Update: As MacStories notes, this particular update appears to only be for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini.

[Source: Engadget]