MacRumors

Comcast's Xfinity Mobile service used "0000" as a default PIN for all of its mobile customers, which left them vulnerable to hacking attempts, identity theft, and more.

Comcast's decision to use simple default PINs for all of its customers came to light in a "Help Desk" article from The Washington Post included one Comcast customer's tech horror story.

Larry Whitted, an Xfinity Customer in California, had someone hijack his phone number, port it to a new account on another network, and steal his identity to commit fraud.

The thief put Samsung Pay on a new phone with Whitted's phone number and credit card then bought himself a computer at the Apple Store.

This was possible because Comcast does not ask its customers to create a PIN to secure their accounts to prevent them from being transferred to another carrier. Instead, Comcast uses the default 0000 code. From Comcast's support document:

We don't require you to create an account PIN, so you don't need to provide that information to your new carrier.

Taking control of a person's telephone number is a popular way to obtain logins for email, social media accounts, bank accounts, and more. Any site that uses a phone number as a way of authenticating data can be accessed when someone has your phone number.

Charismatic hackers who use social engineering techniques can often get access to phone numbers from customer service representatives who don't know any better, but many carriers have implemented PIN codes to make it more difficult. Not Comcast.

This has led to other Xfinity Mobile customers having their phone numbers hijacked as well, and with phone numbers used for so much, hackers can access a lot of a person's data.

Comcast says that it has since implemented new measures to make it harder to steal phone numbers and that it is "working aggressively" to create a PIN-based solution, something that common sense dictates should have been available from the time the service launched.

Comcast says that a "very small number" of its customers have been impacted by this issue, and rightly admits that having even "one customer impacted" is "one too many." Comcast claims that customers who were affected perhaps used passwords leaked in other data breaches

The foldable smartphone era is in full swing with the recent introductions of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, and while it remains unclear if Apple will follow suit, the company has at least explored ideas related to foldable smartphones in patent applications over the past few years.

In a patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today, titled "Electronic Devices With Flexible Displays," Apple explains that foldable smartphone displays could be prone to damage when bent in cold temperatures, and describes various heating methods to mitigate the issue.

For example, Apple says the portion of the display that bends could be heated by lighting up the pixels in that area of the screen. Alternatively, a "heating element or other heating structure" could be used, although Apple wasn't specific.

The patent application, highlighted by AppleInsider, notes that the foldable smartphone could have a magnetic latching mechanism that would prevent the device from being folded or unfolded in very cold temperatures to avoid damage to the display. This would be in environments "significantly below room temperature."

Apple files numerous patent applications every week, of course, and many of the inventions do not see the light of day. Patents are also very detailed, encompassing many possible ideas, even ones that Apple might not have any plans to advance. So, the exact implementation if any remains to be seen.

While unique, early foldable smartphones from Samsung and Huawei are far from perfect, with bulky designs and expensive price tags. Apple is unlikely to release a foldable iPhone unless it can meet the company's strict quality standards.

Last year, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan predicted that Apple is working on a foldable iPhone for release in 2020, while an earlier Korean report said Apple was developing a foldable iPhone alongside LG. However, it's still not entirely clear if Apple will ever proceed with those plans.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), perhaps the most well-known digital rights non-profit, today launched a new "Fix It Already" campaign with the aim of getting technology companies to implement new privacy features in areas where privacy is lacking.

According to the EFF, the issues that it is demanding a fix for are "well-known privacy and security issues" that have "attainable fixes." From Apple, the EFF wants the company to implement user-encrypted iCloud backups that are inaccessible to the company and thus to law enforcement.

iCloud content uploaded to Apple is encrypted at the location of the server and, with the proper legal requests, Apple can provide ‌iCloud‌ information that includes name, address, email, mail logs with date/time stamps, photos, Safari browsing history, iMessages, and more, with full details outlined by Apple on its privacy site. [PDF]

The EFF says that Apple should "let users protect themselves" and elect for "truly encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups."

Apple has not encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups because doing so would prevent Apple from being able to restore ‌iCloud‌ backups for users who have forgotten their passwords. As the EFF points out, though, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said in the past that Apple may move towards encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups in the future. From an interview Cook did with German site Der Spiegel:

There our users have a key and we have one. We do this because some users lose or forget their key and then expect help from us to get their data back. It is difficult to estimate when we will change this practice. But I think that will be regulated in the future as with the devices. So we will not have a key for it in the future.

The EFF has demands for other technology companies in addition to Apple. Android, it says, should let users deny and revoke apps' internet permissions, while Twitter should end-to-end encrypt direct messages and Facebook should stop using phone numbers provided for account creation for targeted advertising.

WhatsApp should obtain user consent before adding users to groups, Slack should give free workspace administrators control over data retention, and Verizon should stop pre-installing spyware on some smartphones.

Apple-owned Beats by Dre has partnered with Japanese luxury fashion brand Sacai to produce a new collection of BeatsX headphones. These models come with beaded cables that can be removed and customized to reflect unique patterns (via WatchGeneration).

Beats won't be selling these headphones to the masses, however, and is currently planning to launch them at an exclusive pop-up shop in Paris on March 4. It's unclear if the company has any plans to roll out the BeatsX + Sacai collection to Apple retail locations or online.

From Beats by Dr. Dre and sacai comes a collaboration that celebrates unique style and individuality. Sacai – an innovative label recognized for mixing high concept designs with functional utility – helps us find a balance between technology and fashion. Reimagined to let listeners incorporate their own creativity and identity, these BeatsX earphones prove that the best accessory to premium sound is personal expression.

There are three colors in the collection: Silver Red, Absolute White, and Intense Black. Each BeatsX + Sacai model comes with a carrying pouch that has a Sacai logo, and they're priced at a premium of around $200, over $100 more than the price of normal BeatsX headphones, which can be purchased for around $80-$90 on sale.

In a promo video shared on the Beats by Dre YouTube channel, Beats president Luke Wood said that the company was looking for a new partner who could reimagine its products with a different design and color. This led to Sacai's idea to incorporate beads onto BeatsX, creating a more fashion-first aesthetic for the in-ear headphones.

Beats is known for collaborating with a number of interesting and surprising brands, in the past including French luxury fashion house Balmain, designer Alexander Wang, and even Hello Kitty. Apple acquired Beats Electronics in 2014 for $3 billion, using the company's streaming service as a basis for what would become Apple Music in 2015.

Update: The beaded BeatsX headphones Apple created in partnership with Japanese fashion brand Sacai can be purchased from the Apple online store.

Qualcomm may be running out of time if it wants to supply Apple with 5G modems for its 2020 iPhones as some rumors suggest.

In a research note today, analysts at investment bank Barclays said that while they originally thought Qualcomm had an opportunity to supply the 5G modems to Apple, they now believe that time "seems to be running out" unless the two companies can settle their bitter legal battle in the next few weeks.

Back in November, it was reported that Apple will tap Intel as its 5G modem supplier instead, but Barclays analysts believe that the modem design for 2020 iPhones "needs to be set now," and that the expected late 2019 availability of Intel's first consumer 5G modem "does not work with Apple's timeline."

Apple recently testified that it held conversations with Samsung and MediaTek as potential alternative suppliers, but it's unclear if those companies would be able to meet Apple's production, performance, and cost demands.

Apple is also reportedly working on its own cellular modems, but research and development appears to be in the early stages.

Last week, Intel confirmed that it expects the first consumer products embedded with its 5G chips to be released in 2020, the same year Apple is rumored to release its first 5G-enabled iPhone, enabling faster data speeds.

International Women's Day is March 8, but Apple plans to celebrate women throughout the entire month of March with a new Girls Who Code partnership, special Today at Apple sessions at Apple Stores, an Activity Challenge, and more.

First, Apple is partnering with Girls Who Code to support new coding opportunities for girls and young women in the United States. Using Apple's Everyone Can Code curriculum, 90,000 girls and Girls Who Code Club facilitators in all 50 states will have the opportunity to learn Apple's programming language Swift.

Swift training will also be provided for club leaders to help expand the number and reach of coding clubs. Apple supports educational opportunities for students of all ages and backgrounds, and advocates for girls’ right to access the same learning opportunities as their male counterparts through its Developer Academies, Everyone Can Code curriculum and work with the Malala Fund and National Center for Women and Information Technology.

Second, in select Apple Stores around the world, visitors can attend over 60 Today at Apple sessions in a new "Made By Women" series throughout March. Sessions will be held in select stores in Singapore, Kyoto, Hong Kong, London, Milan, Paris, Dubai, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.

Third, Apple Watch users around the world can earn an exclusive badge and iMessage stickers when they complete a walk, run, or wheelchair workout of a mile or longer on International Women's Day, which is Friday, March 8 this year.

Fourth, every App of the Day featured in the App Store in March in the United States will highlight an app founded, developed, or led by a woman, including Bumble, TheSkimm, and Stitch Fix. Apple will also be promoting women across Apple Music, iTunes, Beats 1, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts.

Apple's environmental and social initiatives chief Lisa Jackson:

Women have earned the opportunity to have our ideas shape the future. We're excited to support Girls Who Code as they empower girls to be the developers and tech innovators of tomorrow.

Read more about Apple's International Women's Day initiatives on its Newsroom.

Apple today announced that American Airlines, Dexcom, Caviar, Merriam Webster, and Spectre have added Siri Shortcuts support to their apps this week. Airbnb, Drop, ReSound, and Smarter also plan to add ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts integration to their apps over the next few months.

Apple provided us with a summary of how ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts works in each app:

• American Airlines: Get updates on all your flight details ("Hey ‌Siri‌, flight update"). This includes flight status, drive time, a map of the airport with gate location, walking time to gate, boarding time, and more.
  

• Caviar: Set up a shortcut to re-order food and check order status. ("Hey ‌Siri‌, order my usual pizza" or "Hey ‌Siri‌, Caviar order status").
  

• Dexcom: Lets diabetics better track and manage glucose levels through their app ("Hey ‌Siri‌, what's my blood glucose?").
  

• Merriam Webster Dictionary: Ask for the word of the day ("Hey ‌Siri‌, what's the word of the day?")
  

• Spectre: You can use shortcuts to take long exposure photos hands-free ("Hey ‌Siri‌, long exposure") so the phone doesn't move while shooting.

Coming in March-April:

• Airbnb: Get details on your stay, including check in and check out times, address and map, and Wi-Fi password ("Hey ‌Siri‌, my Airbnb stay").
  

• Drop for Bosch: Make your morning coffee before you get out of bed ("Hey ‌Siri‌, make an espresso").
  

• ReSound: Change the setting of your hearing aid based on surroundings ("Hey ‌Siri‌, restaurant mode").
  

• strong>Smarter: Make a pot of coffee using the Smarter Coffee Machine ("Hey ‌Siri‌, make a small pot of coffee").

Apple says thousands of apps now support ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts, which debuted as a key feature of iOS 12 last year.

Apple's examples include Waze, Nike Run Club, Snoww, HomeCourt, AutoSleep, QardioArm, DSLR Camera, Pandora, Tile, Overcast, Evernote, Trello, Omnifocus, Things, Fantastical, Citymapper, Kayak, Hotels.com, British Airways, Lufthansa, Booking.com, VRBO, CARROT, The Weather Channel, Dark Sky, and many others.

‌Siri‌ Shortcuts let you create voice and tap-activated automations that can complete multiple complex tasks in just a few seconds. The feature is available in the Settings app under ‌Siri‌ & Search and through the dedicated Shortcuts app.

Update: Apple has since highlighted several of these ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts apps in a press release.

Apple has registered two unreleased iPad models with the Bureau of Indian Standards, according to MySmartPrice.

The model numbers A2124 and A2133 were already registered with the Eurasian Economic Commission in late January alongside five other ‌iPad‌ models, but the Indian filing suggests that a release is drawing closer.

Apple is widely expected to refresh its 9.7-inch ‌iPad‌ and iPad mini in the coming weeks, with each tablet rumored to receive a spec bump, including a faster processor. The 9.7-inch ‌iPad‌ is also expected to feature a larger 10.2-inch display. It would be the first update to the ‌iPad mini‌ since September 2015.

It's unclear how and when the new ‌iPad‌ and ‌iPad mini‌ will be revealed. Multiple reports indicate Apple will host a special event on March 25 at Steve Jobs Theater, but the word is that the keynote will be focused on Apple's rumored subscription-based news and video services, possibly ruling out hardware.

Given that the ‌iPad‌ and ‌iPad mini‌ refreshes are shaping up to be rather minor, perhaps a press release will suffice. March has become a common month for updates to Apple's lower-end ‌iPad‌ models, so an announcement could be just weeks away.

Two new iPad Pro models are also expected in late 2019 or early 2020, but few details are known about them yet.

Apple Watch maintained pole position in the smartwatch market over last year's fourth quarter as global smartwatch shipments continued to grow, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped 9.2 million Apple Watch units during Q4 2018, according to the report, rising 18 percent from 7.8 million units in Q4 2017. Global smartwatch shipments meanwhile grew 56 percent annually to reach a record 18 million units in the same quarter.

Apple's global smartwatch marketshare actually slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago, but Apple held on to first position with a 51 percent global smartwatch marketshare, while Samsung jumped to second place, overtaking Fitbit and Garmin.

The research corroborates an earlier report from consumer research firm The NPD Group that Apple Watch is the "clear market leader" in the U.S. smartwatch market, but it also underlines the growing threat of rivals like Samsung, which continues to invest heavily in wearables that are compatible with both Android devices and iPhones.

"Apple's global smartwatch marketshare slipped to 51 percent this quarter, down from 67 percent a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Apple Watch is losing marketshare to Samsung and Fitbit, whose rival smartwatch portfolios and retail presence have improved significantly in the past year."

Apple doesn't reveal Apple Watch unit sales from its overall earnings. But in a recent earnings call for the first quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, CEO Tim Cook said the company's wearables revenue was being driven by the "amazing popularity" of Apple Watch and AirPods, and that the category was "approaching the size of a Fortune 200 company."

In an NPR piece on the privacy of storing health records on the iPhone, Apple CEO Tim Cook this week said that Apple is a company that people can trust with sensitive information.

As evidence, Cook said that Apple has always avoided selling user data, something that Cook and other executives have repeated time and time again.

In an interview with NPR, Cook says acquiring user data to sell ads is something his company has avoided. "People will look at this and feel that they can trust Apple," he says. "That's a key part of anyone that you're working with on your health."

Apple executives have always pointed out that its customers are not its product, something that distinguishes Apple from other tech companies like Google and Facebook that rely heavily on user data for marketing and monetization purposes. According to Cook, Apple's privacy commitment is serious and not something that the company says just to earn customer trust.

"It's not the way we look it in terms of advantages," he says. "The reality is that I know for me, I want to do business with people that have my health data, people that I deeply trust."

Cook's statement is part of a wider look at the Health Records feature added to the ‌iPhone‌ last year, which is designed to allow ‌iPhone‌ users to see actual medical records from hospitals, clinics, and doctors right in the Health app. Apple has partnered with many different institutions for the Health Records feature, bringing easy access to health data to millions of people.

Sam Cavaliere, a tech worker who uses Health Records and was featured in the NPR article, says Apple has earned his trust. "I don't get fed advertisements for them, so I don't see them trying to monetize it," he said, going on to explain that he's "comfortable" with what Apple's doing.

UC San Diego Health's chief information officer, Dr. Chris Longhurst, also said that Apple's focus on privacy had made hospital officials feel more at ease because patient health privacy is of the utmost importance.

UCSD Health likes the fact that all record data is stored on device only and not uploaded to the cloud, something that helps to protect patients.

NPR pointed out recent news that certain health-related apps like period trackers and heart rate monitoring apps were sharing data with Facebook for targeted advertising, but Apple clarified that those apps don't, of course, connect to Health Records, which is a highly protected and restricted feature. Health app access in general can only be granted with explicit user permission.

Longhurst says that even though the Health app is well protected by Apple, there are "potential risks" and patients that use the feature should stay informed to make sure they're not inadvertently sharing health data with third parties.

Apple is laying off 190 employees who worked in its Santa Clara and Sunnyvale self-driving car division, the company said in a letter to the California Employment Development Department that was shared by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Affected employees include 38 engineering program managers, 33 hardware engineers, 31 product design engineers, and 22 software engineers, with the layoff set to happen on April 16.

Last month, Apple confirmed that it was removing more than 200 employees from its autonomous car team, with some to be laid off and some to be relocated to other areas in the company.

At the time, an Apple spokesperson said that it was part of a restructuring where the team was focusing on its work for "key areas for 2019."

"We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple. As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple."

"We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever."

Some rumors have suggested that the layoffs were because of a reorganization under former Tesla engineer Doug Field, who joined the company back in August 2018 to lead the car project alongside Bob Mansfield.

Apple started work on self-driving vehicles back in 2014, with rumors at the time suggesting Apple was working to develop a full electric vehicle at a secret location near its Cupertino headquarters.

Leadership issues, internal strife, and other problems impacted the development of the car, and in 2016, new information suggested Apple had shelved its plans for a car to instead focus on an autonomous driving system.

The hiring of Field, who was once Apple's VP of Mac hardware before he went to Tesla, has, however, been seen as a sign that Apple is again developing a full autonomous vehicle, which could perhaps explain another major employee shakeup.

Despite the layoffs, Apple says it still sees a huge opportunity in autonomous systems in the future.

Apple is partnering up with the National Hockey League for its latest "Shot on iPhone" campaign, which has seen billboards featuring hockey players put up at various hockey arenas in the U.S. and Canada.

As noted by Adweek, the billboards started going up this week and feature eight NHL teams: Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, Ottawa Senators, and Philadelphia Flyers.

Each billboard features a candid photo of an NHL player captured on ‌iPhone‌ by a teammate.

Additional NHL Shot on ‌iPhone‌ images will be popping up on social media. On Instagram Stories, for example, Apple will offer a "day-in-the-life" look at NHL players' routines and pre-game prep.

Apple's "Shot on ‌iPhone‌" partnership with the NHL comes just after the NHL promoted a new iPad Pro app that's designed to offer coaches real-time individual and team statistics like face-offs, time on ice, shot attempts, shootout success rates, and more.

Last year, Apple also did a "Selfies on ‌iPhone‌ X" campaign that featured Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

Apple today launched a new article series in its Newsroom highlighting teachers and students who use innovative technology in the classroom.

The first article focuses on the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts (APA) in California, which hosts an annual student-created show called "Playlist."

Students at Huntington Beach APA use Apple hardware and software to prepare for the show, such as Final Cut Pro to edit music videos and Logic Pro X to for audio production. Students get hands-on training in theater tech, audio recording, video production, and more as part of their curriculum.

An iPad Pro in the theater powers a Yamaha CL5 digital mixer for controlling sound levels, and students have access to a recording studio and other music creation spaces.

Many of the students are in the Music, Media, and Entertainment Technology program, designed to prepare them to succeed in the music industry. Jamie Knight, who runs the program, says it's imperative to focus on both technology and art, a philosophy Apple has always agreed with.

"We don't just focus on the technology," Knight says. "It's that performing arts experience that gives them leadership skills, confidence, team work, all of those soft skills that businesses want. You have to perform to get that, and then when you marry that with the technology and you give the kids the ability to have a real recording studio to work with, they're going to be the next Steven Spielberg, or the next Paul McCartney."

The school uses Apple products because they are "equipped with tools to teach," such as GarageBand and iMovie.

Apple's full dive into the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts and its annual "Playlist" production can be read in the Apple Newsroom.