Wikimedia secures connections with HTTPS encryption by default
There is a movement calling for the encryption of all web traffic. The cause of this could be laid at Edward Snowden's door, but there's no getting away from the fact that in recent years there is an increased interest in security and privacy. To this end, Wikimedia has announced that it is now using HTTPS to encrypt all of its traffic -- including that to Wikipedia.
We've already seen the US government embrace HTTPS, and companies like Google and Facebook are making it easier to control privacy settings. Apple has hit out at companies that fail to do enough to protect users' privacy, and Wiki media is taking the extra step of also implementing HSTS, just days after Microsoft announced that this would be supported by Internet Explorer 11 under Windows 7 and 8.1.
Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 comfortably beats Apple's iPad Air 2 in speed tests
UK consumer watchdog Which? tested a range of popular tablets and discovered that when it comes to speed, there’s only one champion, and that’s Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.
It turns out it wasn’t only Microsoft’s slate that bested Apple’s tablets in the speed stakes. The iPad mini 3, which sells for £319 in the UK, was beaten by the Tesco Hudl 2 which costs just £99.
Apple Music should fear Spotify, not the other way around
Apple’s recently announced streaming music service is being viewed by many as a potential Spotify killer. Spotify might have more than 20 million paying subscribers and over 75 million active users, but Apple is a force that cannot be ignored, and being late to the party means nothing.
So should Spotify be concerned about the forthcoming battle with Apple? Unquestionably. Although, if new research is to be believed, it’s Apple that should be worrying the most.
iOS 9 users will be able to block ads
The next update to Apple’s mobile web browser Safari will include a way to block annoying ads, working similar to AdBlock Plus on desktop browsers.
Under the banner of user experience, Apple promoted the new loading system capable of blocking JavaScript, cookies and even images from displaying. The system came to the desktop version of Safari first. Users will be able to opt-in to this experience on iOS 9.
This is how you downgrade back to iOS 8.3 from iOS 9 beta
After Apple released the beta version of its latest operating system, iOS 9, many users wanted to see what the new release of their favorite OS brings.
However, as with any other beta version of any program out there, iOS 9 comes with untested bugs and broken features, making it unviable for daily use.
iOS Mail vulnerability lets hackers steal your passwords
Users of iOS, beware. An unfixed vulnerability has been found in the Mail app, which allows hackers to steal passwords by sending an email.
The flaw was first noticed by Ernst and Young forensic bod Jan Soucek. He has created a tool capable of generating slick iCloud password phishing emails he says exploits an unpatched bug.
Apple hits Google where it hurts
I have some advice for the European Union Competition Commission: Lay off. You don't need to reign in the Google monopoly. Apple will correct the market around search and mobile. That's one of two related takeaways from Monday's WWDC 2015 keynote. iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan up Apple's push into search and proactively-delivered information in big ways. That is if delivery is as good as the company promises.
The other takeaway harkens back to what I told you last week about Tim Cook's piracy rant against unnamed Facebook and Google alongside the friggin U.S. government -- plural if thinking beyond the Feds: It's BS marketing. Apple prepares a major competitive assault against Big G, hitting where damage can be severe: Perception and profits. I cannot overstate Google's vulnerability, which ironically is where the search and information giant exploited Microsoft during this Century.
Apple's arguments for 16GB iPhones are disingenous
If you cannot expand the storage capacity on a high-end smartphone, 16 GB of available space just isn't enough. Install all your favorite apps and games, maybe try a couple of new ones, add some music, use the device for a while, and you end up with an alarmingly-low available capacity. As someone who is using a 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus daily, I have to work around this restriction.
And I shouldn't have to, which is why I find Phil Schiller's arguments on why the company he represents as SVP still makes 16 GB iPhones to be disingenuous. Phil, at least be honest: it is all about the money.
Apple Music's killer feature is its price
As with all things Apple, there’s been a lot of talk about its new music streaming service, ingeniously named Apple Music.
After it got officially unveiled and showcased during this year’s annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the initial amazement was quickly replaced by a profound feeling of meh. Onstage the company said it would transform the listening experience for fans, and the creative act for artists, but once the hype died down it became obvious -- it’s not really offering features you can’t find elsewhere in the market. And then it hits you -- the price!
Microsoft can only blame itself
Apple has a long history of competitive marketing one-upmanship. Major tactic is the artful leak timed around someone else's major product announcement or event. How many times has the company stolen CES participants' thunder without ever attending the event, for example? Occasionally, the showstopper is accidental, as is the case with OS X El Capitan.
I wonder: What were the Microsoft development and marketing teams thinking when they chose July 29th as Windows 10's release date? It's like stepping off the curb in front of a fast-moving, energy-efficient, gas-powered bus. Apple almost certainly will release the OS X 10.11 Public Preview before Windows 10 drops. The company promises July and has every reason to rub Microsoft's nose in the stink.
How to install iOS 9 beta on your iPhone or iPad right now, with or without a dev account
At the WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple demoed iOS 9. New features include updates to Apple Pay, a News app, improved Notes, a more intelligent Siri, updated keyboard, split screen on iPad, and a new low power mode that promises to deliver up to three more hours of battery life.
If you’re an iOS user, it looks like a great update, and you’ll be able to try out the public beta when it is released in July (the finished version will be released in the fall). But hold on, you don’t want to wait that long? Well the good news is there’s a developer preview already available, and it’s possible to install this with or without a dev account. A word of warning though, don't skip the backup step as according to Apple, "Devices updated to iOS 9 beta cannot be restored to earlier versions of iOS".
Sorry haters, but science proves the Internet really, really loves Apple
During yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Apple showed off new versions of OS X, iOS, and watchOS, as well as taking the wraps off of its new streaming music service and radio station.
While the event was going on, people were tweeting about it, and Oxford University's TheySay linguistics tool monitored Twitter from just before the keynote started to just after it ended, and then used the data from 94,528 Apple-related tweets to work out the overall sentiment, including what people thought about each of the products and services Apple covered. The result was overwhelmingly positive.
iOS 9 introduces six-digit passcode default for Touch ID devices
With iOS 9, Apple is improving the mobile operating system in a number of areas. As well as optimizing battery life and storage efficiency, making Siri more intelligent and beefing up multitasking, Touch ID-enabled iPhone and iPad owners will feel the benefit of improved security.
When iOS 9 launches in the fall, the minimum length of passcodes increases from four digits to six. It is already possible to use passcodes of more than four digits, but enforcing a stronger policy from the offset illustrates the importance Apple now places on security.
Apple Swift 2.0 will be open source
Apple is a company that embraces closed ideology. Its operating systems only work on certain hardware which it selects and sells. Its App Store features our-way-or-the-highway guidelines. Worst of all, on iOS, the user cannot even choose a default browser or email client. Hell, even when you use a browser other than Safari, it must use WebKit.
Today, however, this archaic ideology may be softening -- slightly. Among the hubbub of all the flashier WWDC announcements, Apple announced something miraculous -- its Swift 2.0 programming language is going open source. Yes, really.
Apple to make it much easier for Android users to switch to iOS 9
Part of the reason why smartphone owners stay with their current choice of mobile operating system is they don’t want to have to mess around transferring personal data between devices. If you have an iPhone, upgrading to a newer model is very straightforward, and if you have an Android device, upgrading to a newer or different one is just as easy. Switching operating systems is, however, a real pain.
Apple wants to make it easy to go from Android to iOS and is introducing a new app called 'Move to iOS'.
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