Friday Tech News Roundup #23

Below are 10 tech news that I found interesting and are related to topics I care about.

Apple revamps web design for App Store – Apple has updated the look of its web-based App Store, 9to5Mac first reported. It definitely has the feel of the iOS 11 App Store, which Apple completely redesigned and launched last September. But, unlike iOS 11, there’s no focus on app discovery. Techcrunch

A bug is messing up the keyboard for some Messenger users on iPhones (Update: Now fixed) – If you’re having issues with Facebook Messenger on your iPhone right now, you’re not alone. Techcrunch

Tim Cook: next iOS update will let users disable iPhone battery performance throttling – With its admission that it throttles performance on older iPhones, Apple is facing one of its biggest controversies in years. The feature may be for the benefit of the owner, but Apple’s failure to disclose what it’s been doing has been met with anger. Now, Tim Cook says a future update will allow the performance throttling to be switched off, if a user wishes. Techspot

World’s most powerful mobile spyware can read WhatsApp messages, take photos, more – Security firm Kaspersky has uncovered a new Android spyware tool that’s being described as one of the most powerful and advanced forms of mobile malware ever. Named after one of the domains where it was first identified, Skygofree can perform a number of malicious activities, including recording audio and reading WhatsApp messages. Techspot

Apple and Samsung are both under investigation by the Italian government over planned obsolescence – Italy’s antitrust organization has launched two separate investigations against Apple and Samsung over accusations of planned obsolescence. The Verge

Netflix encourages employees to interview at other companies — here’s why – Netflix’s approach to people management can come off as logical but harsh. Business Insider

Microsoft Office for Mac gets a major update – Microsoft has released a new version of Office 2016 for Mac, introducing new online features that bring it closer in line with the cloud-first Office 365. Techradar

Apple forgot the greatest lesson of the MacBook Air – Ten years ago, Steve Jobs hopped on stage at Macworld 2008 and did another one of his seemingly impossible magic tricks: He undid the string on a manila envelope, pulled out the MacBook Air, and forever changed laptops forever. Mashable

This simple text message can paralyze your iPhone — but a fix is coming – A newly discovered iOS bug lets an attacker construct a simple text message which, when sent to an iPhone, immediately freezes and possibly restarts it. Mashable

Facebook became your news diet. Now, it’s going to serve you junk. – Forget about media outlets and Facebook — worry about readers. Mashable

Friday Tech News Roundup #22

Below are 10 tech news that I found interesting and are related to topics I care about.

Facebook feed change sacrifices time spent and news outlets for “well-being” – Facebook is making a huge change to its News Feed algorithm to prioritize friends and posts that spark comments between them at the expense of public content, news outlets, and importantly, the total time spent and ads you see on the social network. Techcrunch

Google claims its Spectre and Meltdown mitigation results in no performance degradation – It’s been a long week since we first learned about the now infamous Spectre and Meltdown chip vulnerabilities. One of the issues with mitigating the danger these vulnerabilities pose is that they could result in serious performance degradation. In a blog post today, Google claimed their solutions resulted in no performance degradation across the different mitigation techniques they have developed. Techcrunch

American drone companies aren’t built to compete – GoPro’s announcement this week that it would exit the drone business was greeted by many observers as a foregone conclusion. Karma, the company’s first foray into drones, had sold poorly after an embarrassing recall in 2016. Under pressure to cut costs amid slowing sales in its core action-camera business, GoPro’s hand was forced. Viewed in that light, Karma was just one more tech company side hustle that didn’t pay off. The Verge

New High Sierra bug lets you change App Store preferences with any password – A new bug has been discovered on devices running macOS High Sierra that allows anyone to access your App Store system preferences. The bug was spotted by MacWorld and the bug will be fixed in the next update as users running the 10.13.3 beta haven’t been able to reproduce it. It should be noted that the bug doesn’t allow access to sensitive user information on the Mac and doesn’t create exposure for users. User and other system preferences can’t be changed without the admin’s actual password. The admin also has to be logged in already for access. The Verge

How Meltdown and Spectre Patches Will Affect HPC Workloads – There have been claims that the fixes for the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities, named the KPTI (aka KAISER) patches, are going to affect application performance by 10-30 percent. The patch makes any call from user space into the operating system much more expensive, so I/O intensive applications are likely to be the worst hit. What does this really mean for HPC workloads? HPCWire

The Living Heart Project Wins Three Prestigious Awards for HPC Simulation -Imagine creating a treatment plan for a patient on the other side of the world, or testing a drug without ever putting subjects at risk. 3D modeling and simulation tools have opened the door to a new age of healthcare. Operations like the Living Heart Project are uniting industry-leading researchers, doctors, educators, and technology manufacturers to reach a higher standard for personalized medicine. Leveraging advanced modeling and simulation capabilities, the Living Heart Project has developed highly accurate, validated models of the human heart which can be personalized by patients’ unique traits and conditions. The Living Heart Project is a growing ecosystem that is fueling the collaborative development of commercially available heart models and exploring novel digital therapies. HPCWire

Android TV box sellers charged with copyright infringement in unprecedented move against piracy – In the first prosecution of its kind here, two Android TV box sellers have been charged with “wilfully infringing” the copyright of four companies – telcos StarHub and Singtel, entertainment giant Fox Networks Group and football’s Premier League. Channel Newsasia

One senator is probing Apple for more information on iPhone throttling issues – When it was discovered that iOS developers had quietly added a feature to the operating system that throttled processors in older phones with degraded batteries, the public was irate. In fact, people seemed more angry about the slowing down than about the phones that were unexpectedly shutting down which is what prompted the software modification in the first place. Techspot

Mac shipments up 7.3% year-on-year, reports IDC, despite a tough U.S. market – Mac shipments in Q4 2014 were up 7.3% year-on-year, according to IDC data. Apple substantially outperformed the PC market as a whole, which grew by just 0.7%. 9to5Mac

Apple shares revised iOS Security Guide w/ details on Face ID, Apple Pay Cash, more – Apple today has shared a revised version of its iOS Security Guide, dated January 2018. The new document, which comes in at 78 pages long includes new details on Apple Pay Cash, Face ID, and more… 9to5Mac

Friday Tech News Roundup #21

Below are 10 tech news that I found interesting and are related to topics I care about.

Apple on Meltdown and Spectre bugs: ‘All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected’ – Apple just confirmed that nearly all of its devices are impacted by the serious vulnerabilities affecting processors made by Intel and other chip makers. Mashable

Cybersecurity agency: The only sure defense against huge chip flaw is a new chip – The tech world continues to come to grips with Wednesday’s revelation of very serious vulnerabilities associated with central processing units (CPUs) that affect, well, just about everyone with a computer. Mashable

The iMac Pro is tough to repair but has vastly improved cooling – Apple’s iMac Pro is the most powerful desktop computer Apple has ever created — well, at least until the launch of the all-new Mac Pro later this year. Mashable

Intel claims its new security updates make PCs ‘immune’ to Meltdown and Spectre CPU bugs – Intel says it and its partners have “made significant progress” in rolling out security patches and firmware updates to protect against two major CPU bugs. The flaws were disclosed by Google’s Project Zero team this week, and the industry is scrambling to issue fixes and secure machines for customers. Dubbed “Meltdown” and “Spectre,” the flaws affect nearly every device made in the past 20 years, and could allow attackers to use JavaScript code running in a browser to access memory in the attacker’s process. That memory content could contain key strokes, passwords, and other valuable information. The Verge

Burn-in test shows the iPhone X beating Samsung’s Note 8 and S7 Edge – As more phones are launched with OLED displays, burn-in problems have become even more relevant. As part of its ongoing iPhone X review, Korean tech site Cetizen tested Apple’s handset against Samsung’s Note 8 and S7 Edge in a burn-in test, and it was the iPhone that came out on top. Techspot

iOS 11.2.5 beta delivers Siri-powered, hands-free news podcasts – If you’re the type of person who tends to wake up to a cup of coffee and a newspaper, you might now be able to eliminate both of those steps if you own an iPhone. As reported by 9to5Mac, iPhone owners who opt in to Apple’s iOS 11.2.5 beta will be given the opportunity to stream a news podcast by simply saying “Hey Siri, give me the news.” Techspot

Apple just shared some staggering statistics about how well the App Store is doing – Apple has an annual tradition in early January of announcing how well its App Store is doing. Business Insider

Here’s what happens with your data when you use a Chinese messaging app – Verbal sparring between two Chinese billionaires over data privacy has shone a rare spotlight onto a topic in China that has also dogged global social media companies from Facebook to Twitter: who owns the content generated by the users and how to handle it. Business Insider

Chrome is turning into the new Internet Explorer 6 – Chrome is now the most popular browser across all devices, thanks to Android’s popularity and the rise of Chrome on Windows PCs and Mac computers. As Google continues to dominate our access to the web, information through its search engine, and services like Gmail or YouTube, Chrome is a powerful entry point in the company’s vast toolbox. While Google championed web standards that worked across many different browsers back in the early days of Chrome, more recently its own services often ignore standards and force people to use Chrome. The Verge

Intel Titan Ridge Thunderbolt controllers look to the future and the past – Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) can be pretty awesome, even if getting access to the 40 Gbps of bandwidth isn’t as straightforward as Intel has advertised. The standard has yet to really spread across the entire PC market, as it’s currently reserved primarily for relatively high-end laptops and Apple’s premium products. Intel is hoping to spread the adoption of TB3 with its just-announced JHL7x40 “Titan Ridge” series of TB3 controller chips. Techreport

Friday Tech News Roundup #20

It’s holiday season. There just isn’t much technology-related news. Below are the ones that I manage to which are interesting and are related to topics I care about.

Apple apologizes for not telling customers iPhones with older batteries would slow over time – Apple has today posted a letter on its website and a technical article in its Knowledge Base apologizing for not being more transparent about how it handles performance on iPhones with older batteries. Last week, Apple issued a statement that made it clear that changes it made a year ago were indeed slowing down the maximum performance of iPhones with older batteries. Techcrunch

Still living under the tyranny of the password in 2017 – When I lost access to my Google account recently, it left a gaping hole in my digital life and showed me just how tenuous the link to our online world can be. One thing I learned from the story I wrote last week about my experience was that I was far from alone. I got more than a dozen emails and tweets from folks who had been similarly locked out of Google, Facebook or Amazon Prime, and couldn’t figure out how to find their way back. Techcrunch

China begins regulating QR code payments – In an attempt to cut down on fraud, China’s central bank has announced plans to begin regulating payments by QR codes, barcodes, and other scannable codes. The regulations will initially cap payments by traditional QR codes to 500 yuan, or about $76 USD. When additional security measures are applied, the cap can raise to 5,000 yuan, or around $765 USD. At an even higher security level, banks and payment processors are given discretion over the cap. The Verge

Apple to release source code for Lisa operating system in 2018 – The source code for Apple’s ill-fated Lisa operating system and some of its key applications will be released to the general public in 2018. Techspot

Hackers are spreading cryptocurrency mining malware through Facebook Messenger – Either by choice or through hacks, drive-by cryptomining is becoming popular. The increasing price of cryptocurrencies has seen more websites surreptitiously mine Monero using visitors’ CPUs. But a newly discovered mining malware is even more malicious, and it’s being spread through Facebook Messenger. Techspot

AWS showed no signs of slowing down in 2017 – AWS had a successful year by any measure. The company continued to behave like a startup with the kind of energy and momentum to invest in new areas not usually seen in an incumbent with a significant marketshare lead. Techcrunch

Friday Tech News Roundup #19

Since tech news roundups are done every Friday, it is decided the heading becomes: Friday Tech News Roundup.

Below are 10 tech news that I found interesting and are related to topics I care about.

If your Android phone catches this malware, it could overload and warp – Cybersecurity researchers at the Kaspersky Lab intentionally infected an Android phone with a new species of nefarious malware. Two days later, the overtaxed phone battery had bulged and actually warped the phone. Mashable

Apple’s Design Delirium [Commentary] – I watch with increasing trepidation at the direction Apple is taking its products. The most recent concern came yesterday from Bloomberg that Apple intends to offer its software developers new libraries that will allow apps to serve both touchscreen interfaces like the iPhone as well as traditional mouse and keyboard setups on desktop computers using a single unified set of APIs. Techcrunch

The Apple Watch 4 could get a proven, life-saving feature – The Apple Watch 3, in its current form, is already a helpful tool for monitoring your heart rate. But it could soon be even more vital, as Apple is reportedly developing a new wearable that features EKG technology to detect heart abnormalities. Techradar

Intel to Take More Risks, Declares CEO in Memo – In a year-end call-to-arms memo sent to all Intel employees, CEO Brian Krzanich declared that “the new normal” at Intel will be change and risk-taking. According to a published story by CNBC, Krzanich said the company faces “an exciting challenge” in strategic, or “new growth,” markets (connected devices, AI, autonomous driving) where other companies have forged ahead of the chip giant. HPCWire

Apple now requires games with loot boxes to disclose odds – Apple is now requiring that any apps on the App Store that offer loot boxes must disclose the odds of the likelihood of players getting different types of items, according to a report from Polygon. The Verge

Apple revises its controversial guidelines on template-based apps – Apple today announced it’s amending the App Store guideline that banned apps created using templates and other app generation services. When the company revised its policies earlier this year, the move was meant to reduce the number of low-quality apps and spam. But the decision ended up impacting a much wider market — including small businesses, restaurants, nonprofits, organizations, clubs and others who don’t have the in-house expertise or funds to build custom apps from scratch. Techcrunch

Singapore start-up Hanalytics sets up AI research centre for neurology in China – Singapore artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Hanalytics on Friday (Dec 22) announced it has jointly established an AI research centre focused on neurology with Beijing Tiantan Hospital, which is affiliated to the Capital Medical University in China. Channel Newsasia

Twitter adds more verification options for two-factor authentication – Twitter today is beefing up perhaps its most important consumer-facing security measure, two-factor authentication (2FA), with an update to fully support third-party apps. Now, Twitter’s login verification feature (the name it gives its 2FA service) will let you rely on apps like Google Authenticator and Authy, whereas before you had to, by default, input a code sent via text message. The Verge

Apple confirms iPhones with older batteries will take hits in performance – Reddit users have noticed that Apple appears to be slowing down old iPhones that have low-capacity batteries. While many iPhone users have experienced perceived slowdowns due to iOS updates over the years, it appears that there’s now proof Apple is throttling processor speeds when a battery capacity deteriorates over time. The Verge

iPhone apps could soon work on Macs, report says – Apple could be looking to bring its desktop and mobile software much closer together. Mashable