MacRumors

A 4K version of the movie "Aquaman" has popped up on torrent sites, and, as noted by TorrentFreak, it looks like the file may have come from iTunes, suggesting Apple's protections for 4K content have been breached.

The "Aquaman" file in question, which was shared earlier this week on Reddit, is labeled as a Web-DL, a name used in torrents to denote where it's from. Web-DL indicates a file pulled from a streaming service like Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon.

The title, "Aquaman.2018.2160p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.HDR.HEVC-MOMA," suggests that this is a 4K release that was decrypted directly from iTunes. This is something that has never happened before with a 4K WEB-DL.

The file is indeed in 4K, and it popped up on torrent sites shortly after the movie was released on iTunes. There are no 4K releases of "Aquaman" from Netflix or Amazon, which led to immediate speculation that someone had managed to decrypt the file from iTunes.

4K files from iTunes have never been spotted on piracy sites before, making this a first that the piracy community is excited about. "4k Web-dl, history has been made today for pirates," wrote one reddit user on the r/piracy subreddit.

TorrentFreak says that it's "too early" to jump to conclusions about the origin of the file. While it's 4K, it could be mislabeled. There's a 4K version on VUDU, though the pirated version was uploaded ahead of the VUDU release.

If it is from iTunes, it's not yet clear how it was accessed. 4K content is only available on the Apple TV via tvOS, suggesting that if there's a security hole, it's in the tvOS operating system.

A source who has experience with the matter believes that it most likely comes from iTunes, as advertised. How, exactly, remains a mystery, but there may be a vulnerability in Apple's tvOS.

"Apple has 4k only on Apple TV running tvOS. I assume they skipped checks, if the device is jailbroken, and someone just dumped the encrypted stream and decrypted it via what's in memory as keys," says our source, who prefers to remain anonymous.

Since Aquaman appeared, two additional 4K Web-DL files for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" have surfaced on torrent sites.

If there is indeed a vulnerability that has been exploited by those who pirate movies to access 4K iTunes content, Apple is likely to implement a fix quickly to prevent pirates from stealing additional 4K movies.

Nearly four years to the day since Nintendo announced it would be bringing its popular characters to iPhone and iPad, the company is now fearing how app-based microtransactions could be tarnishing its brand. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo is going so far as to ask its developer partners to "adjust" its games so that players don't spend too much on in-app purchases.

One Nintendo official reiterated that the company uses its smartphone games to entice players into purchasing full-fledged console titles. Now, according to the unnamed official, Nintendo is concerned that it could be criticized for being greedy in the smartphone gaming market, ultimately hurting the company across divisions.

As for individual games, Nintendo's plan is already affecting certain titles. Dragalia Lost developer CyberAgent slashed its fiscal year earnings forecast for the first time in 17 years, reportedly due in part to the game's underperformance. Although it has a lot of players downloading and interacting with the app, "revenue from each player has fallen short of projections," seemingly tied to Nintendo's new strategy.

“Nintendo is not interested in making a large amount of revenue from a single smartphone game,” one CyberAgent official said. “If we managed the game alone, we would have made a lot more.”

For DeNA, the original smartphone developer partner with Nintendo, the mobile gaming business is said to be in a "slump." Chief Executive Isao Moriyasu reported last month that many of the company's mobile games were struggling except for an original title it created alone called "Megido 72."

Nintendo's smartphone gaming business has definitely seen its ups and downs. The company started with the debut of Miitomo in March 2016, introducing a social game where players could interact with their friends, dress up a custom Mii, and play mini games. After a lukewarm-to-negative reaction from players, Miitomo was shut down two years later in May 2018.

In December 2016, Nintendo debuted Super Mario Run for iOS devices, its first smartphone game with a major IP attached to it, and the first (and as of now only) full-priced Nintendo app. Nintendo returned to free-to-play with Fire Emblem Heroes in February 2017 and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in November 2017.

Over the years, many reports have attempted to dissect the success of each Nintendo app, and the consensus appears to be that Super Mario Run's pay-once structure has paled in comparison to the ongoing success of the free-to-play titles. In particular, Fire Emblem Heroes has been frequently touted as Nintendo's most successful mobile game to date, breaking the $500 million player spending mark on its two year anniversary, despite being based on an IP that's not quite as well known as Mario.

Despite the success of the free-to-play model and the confirmation that the next Nintendo games -- Dr. Mario World and Mario Kart Tour -- will be free-to-play, Nintendo has said that it prefers the payment structure of Super Mario Run to in-app purchases. Shigeru Miyamoto has echoed this week's report in the past, asking the gaming industry to stop "nickel-and-diming" players, and promising that Nintendo will continue pushing for pay-once mobile apps into the future.

Sony today released a new app called "Remote Play" for iOS devices, after launching the same app on Android a few years ago. The app allows you to connect your iPhone or iPad to your PS4, and directly control both the console interface as well as most games through on-screen iOS touch controls [Direct Link].

To get everything set up, make sure your PS4 is updated to version 6.50 (which just began rolling out in the early hours of the morning). Then, download the PS4 Remote Play app from the iOS App Store, sign into your Sony account in the app, and allow it to search for your PS4. You'll need to be on a Wi-Fi network for this to work, as the app cannot be used via mobile networks.

Once connected, you'll see your PS4 home screen displayed on your ‌iPhone‌, sitting above a row of touch controls that mimic the buttons on a DualShock 4 controller. If you tilt the ‌iPhone‌ to a horizontal orientation, the buttons will disappear until you tap on the display.

The app supports the ability to talk to your friends in a party or through game chat, but you'll have to allow it access to the iOS microphone. The app's controls include the DualShock 4's Share and Options buttons, as well as the central PlayStation logo that brings you back to the home screen.

You can browse around the PS4 and launch most games in the Remote Play app, but Sony does note that there are some games that will be incompatible with the app. Additionally, you can't directly connect the DualShock 4 to the ‌iPhone‌ to play games.

Sony has shown interest in iOS in the past, previously launching an app called "PlayLink", which enabled synchronous multiplayer gaming between the PS4 and iOS device. PlayLink games relied on the PS4, however, and iOS devices acted as extensions to the main events happening on the TV, including experiences like a mini-game collection, comedy quiz show, and hidden identity game.

There have also been apps like R-Play that have functionality similar to Sony's Remote Play app, allowing users to play their PS4 while not at home. R-Play costs $11.99 to download [Direct Link] while Sony's new Remote Play app is free to download [Direct Link].

Respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who works for TF International Securities, today increased his forecast of Galaxy S10 shipments by 30 percent due to better than expected pre-order demand.

Kuo attributes the better-than-expected shipment momentum to several factors including spec differentiation from iPhone models.

Pre-order demand for the S10 series is better than expected. Worldwide pre-order demand for the S10 series grows by 30-40% YoY compared to that for the S9 series based on our survey. Therefore, we will increase shipment estimates of the S10 series in 2019 by 30% from 30-35mn to 40-45mn units. S10+ and S10 account for 85% or more of total shipments.

We believe that the better-than-expected shipment momentum of S10 series is due to (1) the market's bearish view on high-end smartphone growth, (2) spec differentiation from iPhone models, including an ultrasonic fingerprint on display (FOD), rear triple-camera, and bilateral wireless charging, (3) much better-than-expected demand in China market, and (4) trade-in programs.

As Kuo points out, there are notable differences between Samsung's newest phone and Apple's current crop of iPhones. Samsung devices have a triple-lens camera setup with an ultra-wide lens, and an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor.

Apple is rumored to be planning to introduce a similar camera setup in the 2019 iPhones, but because it uses Face ID facial recognition instead of a fingerprint sensor, Samsung's under-display fingerprint recognition technology will continue to set it apart from Apple.

Kuo believes the under-display fingerprint sensor and the triple camera are the "spotlights" of the S10 series.

Samsung's Galaxy S10 and S10+ are available for pre-order and are set to launch later this week.

Apple is planning to add 1,200 new jobs in San Diego at an upcoming engineering hub, which is up from the 1,000 jobs that it promised when announcing the new facility in December.

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and Apple officials announced the news at the Apple Store located in University City's UTC mall.

Apple is opening a tech hub in San Diego, and 200 of the 1,200 workers that it is planning on hiring will be in place "by the end of 2019." City officials say that Apple plans to make San Diego, which is the hometown of chipmaker Qualcomm, into a "principle engineering hub" with software and hardware positions "distributed across a number of specialty engineering fields."

Apple is working on its own modem technology and based on job listings, has been targeting Qualcomm employees, many of whom might not want to leave San Diego.

Apple has been a part of San Diego for nearly 20 years through our retail presence and small, fast-growing teams - and with this new investment we are proud to play an even greater part in the city's future. You don't have to try too hard to convince people that San Diego is a great place to live, work and do business, and we're confident our employees will have a great home among the community there."

While there's no official announcement on where Apple's new mini campus will be located, San Diego's KGTV says the company is said to be eyeing a building southwest of Qualcomm's main campus in University City. Wherever it's located, the building will include hundreds of thousands of square feet of office, lab, and research space.

Apple's vice president of Global Real Estate and Facilities said that after Apple made its initial announcement about plans to invest in a San Diego facility, the mayor offered details on all San Diego has to offer, leading Apple to increase its investment.

"We were excited to announce in December that we planned to grow our presence here and add one thousand jobs, and then Mayor Faulconer and members of his team very thoughtfully and convincingly walked us through everything the San Diego region has to offer," said Kristina Raspe, Apple Vice President of Global Real Estate and Facilities. "So we went back and sharpened our pencils and increased our investment."

Apple's move to San Diego is part of a wider effort to expand its business across the United States, which also includes a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas along with new sites in Seattle and Culver City and an additional investment in U.S. data centers.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning penned a new missive outlining the company's plan to create a "privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform."

Facebook's new privacy-focused platform, which will see its core apps overhauled, will, according to Facebook, be built around principles that include private interactions, end-to-end encryption, ephemeral messages, safety, interoperability, and secure data storage.

Zuckerberg says that its services will be rebuilt "around these ideas" over the course of the next few years, and that as Facebook implements these changes (to both Facebook and Instagram), the company will be "taking positions on important issues concerning the future of the internet."

These changes will be implemented "openly and collaboratively, and Zuckerberg points out that many people likely won't believe Facebook is able to build such a privacy-focused platform.

I understand that many people don't think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform - because frankly we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and we've historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories.

The rest of Zuckerberg's article goes into more detail about each of the core principles that Facebook will be building its social networks around. For Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook will focus on making them "faster simpler, more private and more secure" with end-to-end encryption. Additional ways to "interact privately" with friends, groups, and businesses will be added to make interacting with friends and family "a fundamentally more private experience."

When implementing end-to-end encryption on its platforms, Facebook plans to improve its ability to identify and stop bad actors using patterns of activity to appease law enforcement agencies that will be upset with Facebook's planned encryption efforts.

We've started working on these safety systems building on the work we've done in WhatsApp, and we'll discuss them with experts through 2019 and beyond before fully implementing end-to-end encryption. As we learn more from those experts, we'll finalize how to roll out these systems.

Zuckerberg says that the company is working on ways to make messages more ephemeral, perhaps by deleting them after a month or a year by default, and as for interoperability, Facebook is going to make it possible for users to "send messages to your contacts using any of our services," something that will later be expanded to SMS interoperability.

Facebook says that much of its work is "in the early stages" and that it is committed to consulting with experts, advocates, industry partners, and governments to "get these decisions right."

Zuckerberg's full post can be read over on Facebook.

If you've ever wondered how security researchers and hackers manage to bypass Apple's protections and security features to uncover iPhone vulnerabilities and other sensitive info, Motherboard is out today with a new report that has an answer.

Hackers and security researchers use rare "dev-fused" iPhones created for internal use at Apple. These dev-fused iPhones have not finished the production process and have many security features disabled. Motherboard describes them as "pre-jailbroken devices."

On the back of dev-fused iPhones seen by Motherboard, there's a QR-code sticker, a separate barcode, and a decal that says "FOXCONN," referring to the factory that makes iPhones and other Apple products. Otherwise, the phones look like normal iPhones. That standard iPhone experience ends when the phone is turned on. When booted up, you briefly see a command line terminal. And then when it loads, gone are the sleek icons and colorful backgrounds of iOS.

Motherboard spent months researching dev-fused iPhones, talking to more than two dozen sources ranging from security researchers and Apple employees to rare phone collectors and jailbreakers, and found that researchers, hackers, and high-profile companies like Cellebrite or GrayKey use these dev-fused iPhones to uncover bugs that can later be exploited by law enforcement agencies.

A dev-fused ‌iPhone‌ was, for example, used in 2016 to study the Secure Enclave Processor, and security researchers were able to uncover valuable details on how it works. These dev-fused iPhones are stolen property and illegal to possess, but are apparently "widely used" in the ‌iPhone‌ hacking scene.

"If you are an attacker, either you go blind or with a few thousand dollars you have all you need," Luca Todesco, one of the most well-known iOS security researchers in the world, told Motherboard, referring to people who buy dev-fused iPhones. "Some people made the second choice."

Motherboard was able to find someone on Twitter who sells dev-fused iPhones, with a dev-fused ‌iPhone‌ X priced at around $1,800. The seller said that he's provided dev-fused iPhones to several security researchers and that he believes major security firms that hack iPhones also use them. Other sellers offer dev-fused iPhones at higher prices, and Motherboard found an ‌iPhone‌ XR priced at $20,000.

Dev-fused iPhones are paired with a proprietary Apple cable called Kanzi that can cost upwards of $2,000, that, when plugged into a Mac, provides access to internal Apple software that offers root access to the phone.

Most of these devices seem to be stolen from and smuggled out of factories like Foxconn in China. Apple is apparently "well aware" of the fact that dev-fused devices are available. Apple has "ramped up efforts" to keep these devices from leaving Foxconn and does go after dev-fused ‌iPhone‌ sellers.

Motherboard's full report can be read over on the Motherboard website, and it is a fascinating look at the world of ‌iPhone‌ hacking for anyone who is interested in how ‌iPhone‌ vulnerabilities are uncovered.

Apple Watch bands have been refreshed on a seasonal basis for the past few years, and it looks like that trend will continue in spring 2019, as many of the current fall 2018 bands are now out of stock on Apple's online store.

Fall 2018 bands now listed as sold out:

• 40mm and 44mm Sport Bands in Hibiscus, Mellow Yellow, and Pacific Green, plus 40mm in Blue Horizon
  

• 40mm and 44mm Nike Sport Bands in Olive Flak/Black and Smokey Mauve/Particle Beige
  

• 40mm Sport Loops in Cape Cod Blue and Nectarine
  

• 40mm Nike Sport Loop in Smokey Mauve
  

• 44mm Leather Loops in Forest Green
  

• 40mm Modern Buckles in Cape Cod Blue, Forest Green, and Peony Pink
  

• 40mm Hermès Double Tours in Indigo/Craie/Orange and Bordeaux/Rose Extrême/Rose Azalée

Apple could unveil its spring 2019 bands in a press release on March 21, the first day of spring, as it did last year. Apple is also expected to host a March 25 event, but little to no hardware is expected. Either way, we're likely a few weeks away from new bands if another refresh is planned.

Apple likes to brighten up its Apple Watch bands in the spring, although not quite as much as its vibrant summer bands. Spring 2018 colors included Lemonade, Red Raspberry, Denim Blue, Soft Pink, Spring Yellow, and others. Most bands range between $49 and $149 in price, with Hermès bands costing up to $539.

All bands released to date have been compatible with every Apple Watch generation.

Apple today released its 2019 Supplier Responsibility Report, offering a look into Code of Conduct violations in Apple's supply chain and details on progress made with programs promoting health, education awareness, and more.

Apple shares an updated Supplier Responsibility Report on an annual basis in an effort to be transparent about the worker conditions in supplier factories and the steps that Apple takes to improve the lives of the employees that create the range of Apple products available to consumers. Data for these reports are gathered from audits of Apple supplier facilities, with 770 locations audited across 30 countries in 2018.

As of 2018, Apple says that 17.3 million supplier employees have received training in workplace rights, while 3.6 million have been provided with advanced education skills and training, including App Development with Swift courses. Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams said that in everything Apple does, "people come first."

"We are constantly raising the bar for ourselves and our suppliers because we are committed to the people who make our products possible as well as the planet we all share. This year, we're proud to give more people an opportunity to advance their education. Working alongside our suppliers, we're challenging ourselves to find new ways to keep our planet healthy for future generations. Our goal has always been not just to drive progress in our supply chain, but to drive meaningful change across the industry."

Employees who participated in the Swift training course have created more than 40 apps, while more than 1,500 Apple supplier employees were able to earn a college degree through Apple's educational offerings. Health training programs covering nutrition, maternal health, and more have reached upwards of 250,000 people.

Over the years, Apple has had problems with debt-bonded labor in its supply chain, where recruiters charge factory workers for a job. Apple has long disallowed this practice, and in 2018, Apple introduced new programs to prevent debt-bonded labor in high-risk locations and it limited subcontracting for custodial staff in retail stores. Stricter standards for suppliers who hire foreign contract workers were also implemented.

Apple in 2018 saw a 30 percent increase in "high-performing" suppliers that adhere to the guidelines in its supplier Code of Conduct. On a 100 point assessment scale implemented by Apple, its suppliers earned an overall score of 89 in the Labor and Human Rights category, up from 86 in 2017. The deductions in score came primarily from violations related to working hours and wages.

Apple discovered 24 working hours falsification violations, two debt-bonded labor violations, and a single underage labor violation.

For Health and Safety and Environment, Apple's suppliers earned an overall score of 93 in each category, up from 90 and 91, respectively, in 2017.

As for environmental efforts, Apple says that all of its final assembly sites for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod are now certified "Zero Waste to Landfill" thanks to a focus on reuse and recycling. Apple suppliers have diverted 1 million tons of garbage from landfills over the course of three years.

Apple has also expanded its clean water program to 116 suppliers, saving 7.6 billion gallons of water in 2018. Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by more than 466,000 annualized metric tons, equivalent to removing 100,000 cars from the road.

Apple's full report [PDF] goes into much more detail on the specific programs available to supplier employees and the results from those programs, plus it provides a deeper look into conditions at supplier locations and offers more insight into Apple's environmental efforts.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple recently added a new features page to its website, which offers an in-depth look at the capabilities of Apple's modern iPhones.

The site is organized into tiles, each featuring an explanation of a feature along with a short video, a photo, and a link to one of Apple's support documents.

Topics covered include water resistance, privacy, AirDrop, Group FaceTime, photos search, Memoji, Do Not Disturb, Find My iPhone, Apple Pay, iMessage photo effects, and more.

Apple includes both major features like Face ID, along with smaller hints and tips like holding the space bar to move the cursor to quickly fix a typo or double tapping the space bar while typing for a period.

It's a useful site for anyone who isn't super familiar with the feature set on the ‌iPhone‌, and it's also useful for more advanced users because it also has lesser known options that some people might not know about.

Apple has a whole range of support documents on every topic you might think of, but doesn't often link to them on its main site, which makes the features page unique. Apple is highlighting the new features page on its main Apple.com homepage.

Update: Apple has shared several of the videos featured on its "‌iPhone‌ Can Do What?" on YouTube. Each video is about 15 seconds in length and highlights a specific ‌iPhone‌ feature.

Fitbit today announced its latest smartwatch, the Versa Lite Edition. Priced at $160, the Versa Lite is $40 cheaper than the standard Versa model released last year and less than half as much as the Apple Watch Series 4, which starts at $399.

The new Versa Lite Edition looks similar to the standard Versa, beyond having one button versus three. Of course, the Lite Edition loses some features compared to the standard Versa, including Wi-Fi, on-device music storage and playback, on-screen workouts, and the ability to track swim laps and floors climbed.

Nevertheless, the Lite Edition has most features you would expect from a fitness tracker, including step counting, calories burned, sleep tracking, heart rate tracking, guided breathing sessions, and more than 15 exercise modes.

Fitbit is the world's second largest smartwatch vendor according to estimates, but it trails Apple by a significant margin, so it's clearly attempting to win market share with an aggressive pricing strategy. This includes the also-announced Inspire, Inspire HR, and Ace 2 fitness trackers priced between $70 and $100.

Versa Lite Edition is available for pre-order in white, lilac, mulberry, and marina blue.