Apple iTunes accounts hacked, used to cheat ranking system

A rogue Vietnamese developer reportedly hacked into iTunes accounts and used them to purchase his book apps, thus artificially boosting their ratings and sales in Apple's App Store. Both The Next Web and Engadget covered the story over the weekend and noted that, at one point, the high volume of sales propelled Nguyen's apps to take over 40 of the top 50 book app slots in the store. According to The Next Web, up to $1400 has been spent on some users' accounts.

Apple has not officially responded to the problems, but Nguyen's apps have now disappeared from the App Store. We're not sure whether Apple decided to shut down the operation or the seller pulled the apps himself after the story blew up. Even more worrisome is the fact that this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident -- reports are now emerging about alleged "App Farms" in iTunes being used to scam users out of their money, including one developer who hands out around 45 games for free (many of them clones that only differ by the number of "points" they offer), and then uses in-game points purchases costing upwards of $150 to make their money.

With over 100 million active iTunes accounts to date this is a serious matter. It's unclear at this point how the hackers got their hands on the iTunes account passwords, whether by employing phishing scams or through a vulnerability in Apple's system. Either way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep an eye on your account for any suspicious activity and make sure you are using a strong password.

Apple: iPhone 4 calculates bars wrong, fix on the way

Apple's iPhone 4 launch last month has been touted as the single most successful launch in the company's history, with 1.7 million units shipped in just three days. But beyond the numbers the release itself has been marred by a series of issues with the device's wireless reception, which can significantly degrade depending on how users hold the phone. Despite numerous reports, and videos demonstrating the problem, Apple has maintained that there is no problem.

In a series of informal email exchanges with customers, CEO Steve Jobs further exacerbated the matter by telling them to "Just avoid holding it that way" and asking a disgruntled iPhone 4 owner to calm down, claiming "It is just a phone. Not worth it." (Update: Apple denied the latter email was sent by Jobs, but it does seem to have originated from his account. BGR has the details.) Now, with a class action lawsuit pending, Apple has come forward with a formal statement. Their answer? It's not a hardware design issue, just a problem with the algorithm used to calculate bars of reception.

According to Apple, all phones suffer from a certain amount of signal loss when gripped in certain ways. The problem is some iPhones were displaying more bars than they should have, and in fact the attenuation users are seeing is likely because the signal strength in a given area isn't very strong to begin with. In essence the firmware "fix" they are promising will change the way bars are represented to report signal more accurately.

That, however, doesn't explain the related performance problems like dropped calls some users have encountered and how they seem to disappear when using a bumper case or by simply avoid touching the dead spot on its left bottom corner. It looks like we'll have to wait "a few weeks" to see if the update does anything more than just make the signal bars more accurate. Apple also said that customers can return undamaged iPhones within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

iPhone 4 costs $188 in parts, 1.7 million units sold in 3 days

After tearing the iPhone 4 to bits, research outfit iSuppli estimates the handset's parts to cost about $188, or $187.51 to be precise. That figure is for the 16GB model and doesn't include costs associated with manufacturing, research and development, logistics or advertising. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive component in the new iPhone is its high-resolution "retina display," which runs about $28.50.

In all, the latest numbers are similar to what we've seen for previous iPhones, and iSuppli believes this is because Apple is targeting the same budget. The 3GS was estimated to cost $179 in materials, but considering features like the upgraded screen, the new A4 processor ($10.75), a gyroscope ($2.60) and other additions, the iPhone 4's extra $8.5 seems perfectly reasonable.

At retail, the iPhone 4 costs $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) when paired with a two-year data plan from AT&T, or $499 and $599 for unsubsidized units. Steve Jobs has called it the most successful product launch in Apple's history, with 1.7 million units shipped in three days. By comparison, the company sold 1 million 3GS' in the same timeframe.

Adobe releases Flash Player 10.1 for Android 2.2

Apple iPhone users may have received iOS 4 yesterday, but today Android fans have something to cheer about too as well: Adobe has released the final version of Flash Player 10.1 for Google's mobile operating system. Those with smartphones running Android 2.2 (codenamed "Froyo") will be able to download the ubiquitous plug-in from Google's Android Marketplace, and over the coming months Flash 10.1 will spread to many other mobile operating systems.

In its announcement Adobe specifically mentioned Palm's WebOS, Symbian, MeeGo, Blackberry, LiMo and even Windows Phone -- though it didn't offer a specific release date for those platforms. The company supplied the necessary code to partners hoping that they'll make it available via over-the-air downloads or pre-installed on future smartphones.

Flash 10.1 includes a number of features specially designed for mobile users, including accelerometer support to automatically adjust Flash content to landscape or portrait mode, optimized power consumption to extend battery life, multi-touch compatibility, "smart rendering" so content that's not on the screen won't use up resources, and the ability to pause if the user switches to another application
. Adobe also says it has worked with hardware and software makers to optimize for specific platforms.

Apple's iOS 4 arrives for newer iPhone, iPod touch models

Attention iPhone and iPod touch owners: Apple's newly minted iOS 4 is now ready to be downloaded and installed on your device. The latest release will let you use folders to organize your apps, jump into the unified email inbox, download and read ebooks, and more. Some of its features are limited to new hardware in the upcoming iPhone 4, such as FaceTime video calling, while others (like multitasking) are available on last year's iPhone 3GS and third-gen iPod touch.

The iPod 3G and second-generation iPod touch are also supported, to a lesser extent, and an iPad-compatible version will arrive this fall, but those using the original 2007 iPhone and iPod touch models are out of luck. To download iOS 4 open iTunes (version 9.2 is required), plug your iPhone or iPod touch into your computer, and click on "Check for Update." The update is free for everyone to download, including iPod touch owners, unlike previous years.

Remember to backup your data just in case something goes awry, or if you want to be extra careful, you might want to consider holding off on updating for a day or two to make sure that there aren't any major issues. Last year, some early adopters of iPhone OS 3.0 found that the update was hurting battery life, or that they couldn't reactivate their phones on AT&T's network after installing the update, leaving them restricted to emergency calls and Wi-Fi Internet access.

If and when you do take the plunge, check out Pandora's updated iPhone app, which was one of the first to hit the App Store this afternoon with the promised multitasking support, allowing you to stream music in the background for free.

Apple updates Mac mini with unibody case, better graphics

Just as it started taking pre-orders for the new iPhone 4, Apple has quietly rolled out a redesigned Mac mini featuring up to twice the graphics performance of the previous model, a new HDMI port and an SD card slot. Taking a cue from the MacBook Pro line, the new Mac mini rocks a unibody aluminum enclosure that is only 1.4-inches tall and 7.7 inches square, with a removable panel on the bottom to access the computer's RAM for upgrading.

A new integrated power supply eliminates the need for an external power adapter, reducing overall system volume by 20 percent and keeping cable clutter to a minimum. Apple also says that the mini is the most power-efficient computer around, using less than 10 watts when idle.

There are two models: The first costs $699 and comes with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive. The other model goes for $999 and is pre-loaded with Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server, dropping the slot-loading SuperDrive in favor of 4GB RAM, two 500GB hard drives, and a 2.66GHz processor. Both models now come with Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics, which is the same integrated GPU that comes in the current MacBook.

In terms of connectivity, besides the new HDMI port the system sports a mini DisplayPort connector that supports up to 2560 by 1600 pixels and ships with a HDMI to DVI adapter. There's also a FireWire 800 port and four USB 2.0 connectors, Gigabit Ethernet
, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and built-in Wi-Fi (including 802.11n).

Apple intros iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010, available June 24

As expected, Apple today announced the next iteration of their popular iPhone smartphone. Simply dubbed iPhone 4, the device introduces some new design elements like an integrated antenna system in the form of a stainless steel band that goes around the device, a flattened glass-like back for better reception, and a new high resolution "Retina Display". The latter is able to fit 326 pixels per inch of its surface, which is beyond the display capabilities of the human retina, and obviously a marked improvement over the 3GS -- or any other smartphone -- in both brightness and clarity.

The new display is 960 by 640 pixels, with an 800-to-1 contrast ratio. Like the iPad, it also has an LCD screen with IPS technology for superior viewing angles. Most of the specs we're already familiar with from previous leaks: A4 chip, larger battery, front-facing camera, micro SIM tray, 5-megapixel camera and LED flash on the back, noise cancellation mic, among other things. But Apple also threw in a new three-axis gyroscope, which paired with the iPhone's accelerometer and compass will offer six axis orientation for gaming and much more precise movement.


The camera on the back has been fitted with a backside illuminated sensor for low light photos, and besides capturing still images it can also record 720p high-definition video at 30fps. Users will be able to edit their videos with a mobile version of iMovie which will be available for $4.99 in the App Store. Also on the software side, Apple renamed its mobile operating system iOS 4 to reflect its spread to the iPod and iPad, announced iBooks for the iPhone, touted its iAds advertising platform, and unveiled its video calling software (Wi-Fi only for now) dubbed FaceTime.

Apple's iOS 4 will be free to all 3GS, 3G, and iPod Touch 2nd generation users on June 21st. As for the new iPhone 4, pre-orders start June 15 for the 16GB ($199) and 32GB ($299) models, with the phones available in stores roughly one week later on June 24. Besides the United States, Apple will launch the new iPhone in Germany, UK, France and Japan.

Safari 5 announced, boasts twice the speed of Firefox 3.6

In addition to officially uncorking the latest iPhone handset and operating system, Apple also announced Safari 5 today. The new build touts improved DNS prefetching and page caching, making it 30% quicker than Safari 4 (based on SunSpider 0.9.1, a JavaScript benchmark), 3% faster than the recently launched Chrome 5, and over two times the speed of Firefox 3.6.

Safari 5 features over a dozen new HTML5 technologies, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video, HTML5 geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX history, EventSource and WebSocket. Apple has also launched the Safari Developer Program to let developers create Safari Extensions, which are sandboxed and signed with a digital certificate from Apple for security.

Another key feature is Safari Reader, a function that lets users "read single and multipage articles on the Web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter." When the browser detects an article, users can click an icon to display the post for "clear, uninterrupted reading." Safari Reader has a few tools, such as the ability to enlarge, print, or send via email.

Interestingly, the press release for Safari 5 has disappeared on PR Newswire. That said, one is available on Apple's site, it shouldn't be long before the rollout. When Safari 5 goes live, both Mac OS X and Windows users will be able to download it here.

Update: It seems to be available now, although there is a minor error on the page. We assume someone's scrambling to get it out the door.

Opera Mini downloaded 2.6 million times from App Store

Opera's mobile Web browser was cleared for the iPod and iPhone early last month and it has already become a top platform for Opera Mini. The Norwegian software company said in its State of the Mobile Web Report that a million App Store customers downloaded the alternative browser in the first day alone, and soared to more than 2.6 million by the end of April.

Opera Mini's user base reached 58.9 million, up 6.6% from the month prior and over 152% year-over-year. Page views climbed to 26.3 billion, up 1.6% sequentially and 203% on-year. That response made the iPhone the most popular Opera device in the US, passing BlackBerry phones, and fifth in the UK.

It also pushed the United States to sixth (from eighth) in the top 10 countries by usage, and the iPhone became the third most popular handset in the world to use Opera Mini, behind the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic and Nokia 6300. The remaining devices on the list (fourth through tenth) are all Nokias.

Next-gen Apple TV to cost $99, run iPhone OS 4.0

Apple is reportedly readying some big changes for its "hobby" set-top box project. According to sources "very close" to the company talking to Engadget, the next generation Apple TV will shift focus from local to cloud-based storage, while building on Apple's strengths as a mobile device company. The new hardware was described as an iPhone without a screen," as it is based on the same A4 processor as the upcoming model with only 16GB of storage and running iPhone OS 4.0.

It isn't clear whether or not the new Apple TV will be compatible with software from the App Store, though it makes sense considering the shared platform. The device is said to be quite small, with ports for the power and video out only, and will be capable of up to 1080p HD streaming over the web or from other computers in your network. Also, the projected price being tossed around is just $99, which is uncharacteristically cheap for an Apple product.

Currently, the Apple TV costs $229 and comes with 160GB of storage. The rumored low price for its successor might finally get people interested in Apple's set-top box. It remains to be seen if the company will change its content strategy and finally open the device to support video and audio from sources other than YouTube and the iTunes store. With Google readying its own TV platform competition could get very interesting in this market.

Apple to fix iPad Wi-Fi issues with future software update

Apple has updated a support document to say that it will address iPad Wi-Fi issues in an upcoming software update. A handful of iPad owners have experienced issues with Wi-Fi connectivity, and in the meantime, the company has provided a few potential workarounds.

Apple says users who "consistently encounter issues connecting to a specific Wi-Fi network" should update their router's firmware. If you happen to be using an AirPort Base Station, check out this article for details on performing the update, otherwise the information should be readily available at your device manufacturer's website.

After updating your router, you should make sure you're using WPA or WPA2 wireless security, and not WEP. Next, you should renew your IP address by going to Settings > Wi-Fi > select your network > tap Renew Lease. Other suggestions include toggling Wi-Fi on and off, as well as ensuring that your screen brightness isn't at its lowest level (Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper).

Core i7 hits 100C on MacBook Pro,

Earlier this month Apple finally updated its MacBook Pro notebook line with Intel's latest chips and several other improvements across the board. But while there were noticeable performance improvements, and slightly better battery life, apparently the good didn't come without a few problems on the side. According to tests run by PC Authority, Apple's new notebook was found to climb over 100 degrees Celsius when pushed to the max.


Specifically, the site claims the 2.66 GHz Core i7 620M inside Apple's laptop reached 84 degrees in the Dwarf Fortress graphics benchmark and 100 degrees in the Cinebench 3D rendering benchmark. The processor generated so much heat that some of the tests started to run slow, and PC Authority actually had to run the MacBook Pro on its side so more air could go through the vents. The aluminum shell proved ineffective at dissipating the heat as well as the similarly equipped Fujitsu Lifebook SH760, which was able to finish the Cinebench 3D test at 81 degrees.

Apple iPhone hacked to run Google's Android

David Wang, a hacker from the well-known iPhone Dev Team group, has posted a video of Android running on his iPhone 2G. This feat is most certainly a big step in the ongoing battle to free iPhone users from the clutches of Apple.

The blog post shows Android in action and if the video itself is any indication, the project looks very promising. A number of features are shown off during the demo, including a custom boot loader, the entire boot process, wireless Internet access, playing music and of course receiving a call. However, despite its very functional appearance, David describes it as "slightly buggy" and "alpha quality". This is most likely not something you'll see on your iPhone any time soon.

According to the commentary, the demonstration runs a little slow because a debug version of Android is being used. Having used a 2G for the video, David also informs us that porting the project over to the 3G should be pretty simple, but the 3GS will represent a greater challenge. Despite the polish needed, it will be very interesting to see where this leads in the future -- Could this represent the next level of jailbreaking?

Adobe halts further iPhone development, focuses on Android

Adobe has announced it will be ceasing its efforts to bring Flash-based applications to the iPhone. The move came after Apple put out a new draft of its iPhone developer program license, which banned developers from using cross-platform compilers like the one Adobe just so happened to introduce in Creative Suite 5, and instead required apps to be written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine.

Although this was largely interpreted as a shot directly across Adobe's bow, it could also affect other middleware tools such as Titanium, MonoTouch, or Unity -- not to mention that being forced to use tools that target a single platform makes life harder for developers who want to leverage as many platforms as possible to justify costs and increase margins. Adobe believes that Apple may selectively enforce the terms and let a few non-abiding apps trickle to their store, but speculates it will likely enforce them to select content created with Flash CS5 to send a clear message.

This is just the latest in the escalating confrontation between Apple and Adobe. The Cupertino-based company has repeatedly claimed that letting Flash on its iPhone platform would degrade battery life and performance.

Adobe will still provide the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5, but warns that they are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature, and that developers should be prepared to have their apps rejected. In a blog post yesterday, Adobe principal product manager Mike Chambers also criticized Apple's somewhat haphazard policies regarding applications and said they are now focusing on Google's Android platform.

Apple releases 27-inch iMac firmware updates, more

Apple has released two firmware updates to address several issues with its 27-inch iMac systems. The first update (27-inch iMac EFI FW Update 1.0) is recommended for all 27-inch iMac models using Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and fixes a couple of bugs. One flaw causes high processor utilization while playing audio via the headphone output jack, and another prevents the display backlight from turning on after the machine is powered on.


The second update (27-inch iMac SMC Firmware Update 1.0) targets an unspecified compatibility issue with Target Display Mode, a feature that is only available on 27-inch iMacs and allows the machine to be used as a secondary display via its Mini DisplayPort connector.

In somewhat related news, Apple has also issued Security Update 2010-003 for Snow Leopard (6.5MB), Leopard Client (218.6MB), and Leopard Server (379.5MB). Additionally, Server Admin Tools 10.6.3 (236MB) has been pushed out to the public.

Apple delays international launch of iPad until late May

The iPad's success has taken many tech enthusiasts by surprise, and apparently, it's selling better than Apple first expected, too. With sales of the tablet climbing to 500,000 in the first seven days, Apple says demand will likely exceed supply over the coming weeks. In addition to shipping Wi-Fi models, the company is trying to manage an untold number of preorders for the 3G-equipped iPads, which should launch later this month.

Due to this "surprisingly strong U.S. demand," Apple has decided to postpone the iPad's worldwide launch by one month. It's now set to go global toward the end of May, and the company will announce international pricing as well as begin taking preorders online on Monday, May 10.

The tablet will eventually appear on shelves in countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. For what it's worth, the cheapest Wi-Fi model starts at $499, while the most expensive 3G version is $829, so expect similar pricing in your region.

iPhone OS 4.0: Game Center, unified inbox, iAd and more

Although the big news coming out of Cupertino today was multitasking support in iPhone OS 4.0, Apple simultaneously announced several other new features that take direct aim at some of its largest rivals. Among these is Game Center, a service that in many ways should mimic Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Live integration with Windows Phone 7 Series, supporting things achievements, leaderboards and online matchmaking against other iPhone users.

The service will launch sometime later this year and will go against third-party gaming networks already available such as Open Feint and Ngmoco's Plus+. Clearly, Apple is serious about making the iPhone a more attractive gaming platform.

Another welcome and long-overdue addition was the unified inbox, which means users with multiple email accounts can finally read their messages from a single place rather than having to hop back and forth switching between inboxes. In addition, messages can now be organized by threads to make email conversations easier to follow, and Apple is opening up email attachments so that they can interact with third-party apps.

Jobs also demoed some new enterprise level functionality for the iPhone, including APIs for encryption, wireless distribution of apps without relying on iTunes syncing, Exchange Server 2010 support, and mobile device management for large iPhone deployments. On top of this there was the announcement of iAd, Apple's own mobile advertising service that will enable developers to monetize their software through ads delivered as mini interactive applications.

It will be a while before you get any of these features, though -- iPhone OS 4.0 will be available this summer for the iPhone 3GS and third-gen iPod touch (the iPhone 3G and second-gen iPod touch should get "most" of the features and previous versions will get none), while iPad owners will be able to upgrade in the fall. Ars Technica has posted a summarized rundown covering today's announcements, if you care to go through all of it.

Apple iPhone OS 4.0 to finally enable multitasking

It's official: Multitasking is finally coming to the iPhone with an upcoming firmware update -- and therefore to the iPad and iPod touch as well. Speaking at their scheduled iPhone OS 4.0 event this morning, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs announced the long sought feature and acknowledged customer demands saying: "we weren't the first to this party, but we're gonna be the best. Just like cut and paste." Unlike other devices, their implementation will supposedly enable users to do more than one task at once without hurting battery life or performance.

Basically they are providing background services to applications for seven specific actions or areas: audio, voice over IP, location services, push notifications, local notifications, task completion and fast app switching. Although the method is not considered 100% true multitasking, it will enable things like streaming music through Pandora on the background while checking your mail, or receive calls from services like Skype even when they are not actively running.


Turn by turn navigation apps can use background location to provide directions, while continuing to perform other tasks, and location-aware social networking applications like Loopt won't require GPS to be always-on. A fourth and fifth enhancement relates to the company's existing push notification service and a new "local notifications" service that bypasses Apple's servers. Task completion will enable an app to start a job and finish it after the user has closed the app, and fast app switching allows an app to save its state, stop running, and then restart instantly where you left it.

For users, multitasking will reportedly work transparently and fast -- simply double-click the home button and a tray showing all running applications will open. The functionality was highlighted by Apple's chief executive as just one of the top seven "tent pole" features of the new release, along with hundreds of other user features and 1,500 new APIs for developers to leverage in their apps. Multitasking will work only in the iPhone 3GS, iPad and third-gen iPod touch.