Everyone Can Create is designed to allow teachers to easily incorporate creativity into their existing lesson plans in any subject, including language arts, math, science, history, social studies, and coding. The series of guides teach students to develop ideas through drawing, music, video, and photos on iPad.
Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller:
We believe Apple technology can help unleash every child's creative genius. Working closely with teachers, we have built the Everyone Can Create curriculum to help bring creative expression and the arts into the classroom, and to help students stay engaged through creativity and ultimately be more successful.
Apple Stores are also using Everyone Can Create in their Teacher Tuesday sessions. 504 stores in 24 countries have already taught over 5,000 hands-on Teacher Tuesday sessions on topics including coding and app design, video and music creation, and creative visual presentations, according to Apple.
Everyone Can Create includes four student guides for drawing, music, video, and photos, available for free in Apple Books. A companion teacher guide helps bring these projects to life, with 300 lesson ideas across media, projects, and subjects.
On Sunday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that will bring back strict net neutrality protections to users in the state, four months after net neutrality officially expired in the United States thanks to the FCC's vote to repeal the regulations last December (via USA Today).
Now that California has renewed net neutrality in the state, the United States Justice Department has filed a lawsuit in attempt to strike down the bill. In a statement, the Justice Department says that California's Senate Bill 822 "unlawfully imposes burdens on the Federal Government’s deregulatory approach to the Internet."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also commented on the lawsuit:
Sessions: “Under the Constitution, states do not regulate interstate commerce—the federal government does. Once again the California legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy. The Justice Department should not have to spend valuable time and resources to file this suit today, but we have a duty to defend the prerogatives of the federal government and protect our Constitutional order. We will do so with vigor. We are confident that we will prevail in this case—because the facts are on our side.”
Pai: “I’m pleased the Department of Justice has filed this suit. The Internet is inherently an interstate information service. As such, only the federal government can set policy in this area. And the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently reaffirmed that state regulation of information services is preempted by federal law.
“Not only is California’s Internet regulation law illegal, it also hurts consumers. The law prohibits many free-data plans, which allow consumers to stream video, music, and the like exempt from any data limits. They have proven enormously popular in the marketplace, especially among lower-income Americans. But notwithstanding the consumer benefits, this state law bans them."
California is not the first state to pass its own net neutrality bill, but none have yet been as strict. Under the law, California broadband providers will not be able to slow down or block any websites, charge higher fees to customers to receive faster internet speeds, and the law also limits some zero-rated data plans.
Without net neutrality regulations, internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T have the legal ability to throttle any traffic on their networks, and block access to sites and services completely, as long as they inform their customers of their actions. In essence, many have theorized that this could lead to ISPs bundling "packages" of internet sites and selling them like cable companies, as well as putting high-paying customers in "fast lanes" and everyone else in "slow lanes."
Net neutrality opponents, like Pai, say this will lead to "better, faster, cheaper internet access for consumers, and more competition." They also cite the return to an "open" and less regulated internet, seen prior to the 2015 induction of net neutrality.
Numerous technology companies have voiced support of net neutrality over the past year, including Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, and more. Apple last year stated that the net neutrality repeal could "fundamentally alter the internet as we know it," and if it passed it would be put in place to the detriment of consumers, competition, and innovation.
For California, a legal battle will now happen between the state and the Justice Department, with a few other individuals opposing California's law. This includes U.S. Telecom Association CEO Jonathan Spalter, who said, "Rather than 50 states stepping in with their own conflicting open internet solutions, we need Congress to step up with a national framework for the whole internet ecosystem and resolve this issue once and for all."
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.
A Forbes report has highlighted the first known case of law enforcement forcing a suspect to unlock an iPhone using Face ID.
The incident reportedly happened in August when federal agents obtained a warrant to search the house of a man in Columbus, Ohio, as part of a child abuse investigation.
Apple marketing image for Face ID
According to case documents, FBI agents got 28-year-old Grant Michalski to put his face in front of his iPhone X to activate the Face ID facial authentication.
After the device was unlocked, investigators looked through Michalski's chat history, photos, and other files stored on the phone. Evidence discovered on the device was used to charge the suspect later that month with receiving and possessing child pornography.
Several previous cases have occurred where law enforcement has gained access to digital data by forcing people to unlock mobile devices using their fingers. One case even reportedly involved trying to use the finger of a dead person to unlock a phone, which ultimately didn't work.
However, this appears to be the first case in which Face ID has been used, so it's likely to reignite debate over where the law stands in relation to biometric authentication methods.
In the United States, forcing someone to give up a password is interpreted as self-incrimination, which is protected by the fifth amendment and against the law. Nevertheless, courts have ruled that there's a difference between a biometric recognition system like Touch ID and a passcode that you type into your phone.
In the case highlighted by Forbes, the FBI was eventually locked out of the phone and had to gain a second search warrant to allow them to conduct a more thorough search of the device using a third-party unlocking solution, likely similar to Grayshift.
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.
A number of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max owners in the Apple Support Communities and MacRumors Forums report that the devices fail to start charging when a Lightning cable is plugged in while the screen is turned off.
As with many crowdsourced issues, experiences vary. In most cases, the iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max begins charging once the user wakes the device by tapping or raising the screen. However, some users report having to both wake the iPhone and disconnect and reconnect the Lightning cable to get a charge.
In rarer cases, the iPhone stops responding entirely at some point after a Lightning cable is plugged in while the screen is turned off.
Lewis Hilsenteger demonstrated the issue on his popular YouTube channel Unbox Therapy today by plugging a Lightning cable into one iPhone X, four iPhone XS, and four iPhone XS Max units. While the iPhone X began to charge, it appears two of the iPhone XS units and three of the iPhone XS Max units did not.
Unbox Therapy's video uses the hashtag #ChargeGate
Affected customers have documented the issue in at least a dozen discussion threads across the web, including the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors Forums, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and other forums and platforms. It's unclear how widespread the issue is at this time, but not everyone is affected.
Some users have speculated the issue could be related to USB Restricted Mode, introduced in iOS 11.4.1, which prevents an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from communicating with USB accessories via the Lightning connector if one hour or longer has passed since the device was last unlocked.
However, while USB Restricted Mode is enabled by default in iOS 12, Hilsenteger and others say disabling the feature does not help. Apple also has a support document that ensures "your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch charges as usual when it's connected to a USB power adapter" with the feature toggled on.
In the YouTube comments on the Unbox Therapy video, some users claim to be experiencing the same issue on older iPhones and iPads, so there is a decent chance this is a software issue that could be addressed in a future iOS 12 update. In the meantime, there does not appear to be a workaround.
If you are affected by this issue, we recommend contacting Apple Support. Apple frequently passes on device information and diagnostics to its engineering teams to address potential bugs like these, so all feedback helps.
Apple did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but we'll update this article if we receive any information.
A passcode bypass vulnerability has been discovered in iOS 12 that potentially allows an attacker to access photos and contact details on a locked iPhone.
The rather convoluted bypass method was shared in a video by Jose Rodriguez, who has discovered iOS bugs in the past that Apple has subsequently fixed.
With physical access to the locked device, the attacker first asks Siri to activate VoiceOver, sleeps the device with the Side button, and then calls the iPhone using another device. Once the call screen shows up, the attacker taps the Message button, opts to create a custom message, and then taps the plus (+) icon in the top right.
Next, on the other phone, the attacker sends a text or iMessage to the target iPhone, whose screen is then double-tapped when the message notification appears. This causes an odd behavior in the UI, since it highlights the plus icon underneath.
After a short wait, the screen goes white and the notification disappears, but the VoiceOver's text selection box is apparently still tappable and can now be used to access the Messages interface. Following multiple screen swipes, the VoiceOver is heard to say "Cancel," which reveals the original Messages screen.
Adding a new recipient to the message and selecting a numeral from the virtual keyboard then reveals a list of recently dialed or received phone numbers and contacts. Further, if one of the numbers or contacts includes an info ("i") button, disabling VoiceOver and tapping the button shows the contact's information. Performing a 3D Touch action on the contact also brings up call and message options, along with options to Add to Existing Contact or Create New Contact.
In a similarly complicated set of steps involving an invisible user menu, an attacker can eventually access a locked iPhone's Camera Roll and other photo folders, which can then be used to add profile pictures to contact cards.
The bypass methods work on all iPhones including the iPhone XS lineup, but Apple doesn't appear to have fixed the vulnerabilities in the latest iOS 12.1 beta. Thankfully however, all of the above can be easily prevented by disabling access to Siri from the lock screen.
Concerned users can do so by navigating to Settings > Face ID & Passcode (that's Settings > Touch ID & Passcode on iPhones with Touch ID) and disabling the Siri toggle under the "Allow access when locked" menu.
Telegram received a major update today that includes new in-app notifications and a complete rewrite of the encrypted messaging app in Apple's Swift coding language, resulting in all-round faster performance and better energy efficiency.
On the face of it, the Telegram 5.0 interface looks just like the previous version, but the developers say that rebuilding the app in Swift has made it "faster, sleeker and more battery-friendly," and has also removed a bunch of persistent bugs.
The speed improvements should be immediately noticeable, particularly when viewing animations in chat threads and syncing messages across multiple devices. At the same time, the new in-app notifications allow users to keep on top of new messages without leaving conversations. From the Telegram blog:
The new expandable in-app notifications will help you focus on whatever you're doing in the app without having to ignore incoming messages. When a notification arrives, pull it down to open the relevant chat. When you’re done with the interruption, simply close it to get right back to what you were doing.
Elsewhere, the app now includes streaming support for audio files and improved navigation for busy chats, while the app icon message counter has been tweaked so that it no longer shows the number of unread messages in muted chats, which should make it a lot more informative.
Telegram is a free download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]
The Apple Watch Series 4, launched last week, features a new dual-core S4 chip that's significantly faster than the S3 chip in the Series 3, and, of course, the chips used in older Apple Watch models.
We did a side-by-side comparison of the Apple Watch Series 4 to the original Apple Watch, the Series 1 models, the Series 2 models, and the Apple Watch Series 3 to see how far the Apple Watch has come since it was first introduced in 2015.
According to Apple, the fourth-generation dual-core 64-bit Silicon-in-Package or SIP chip in the Apple Watch is twice as fast as the previous-generation S3 chip. Its improved efficiency and speed allow for better battery conservation and new health-related features like ECG readings.
In our testing, we compared Apple Watch tasks like booting up, opening apps, and activating Siri to demonstrate the speed differences between each generation.
Unsurprisingly, the Series 4 was the fastest, but for a lot of tasks, there weren't huge speed differences between the Series 4 and the Series 3.
When comparing the Series 4 to the Series 2 and older, though, you can see the impressive improvements Apple has made to the processor over the course of the last three years. While it took the Apple Watch Series 4 40 seconds to boot up, it took the Series 2 almost four minutes, the Series 1 three minutes, and the Series 0 five minutes.
When opening up apps, we didn't see a huge difference between the Series 3 and Series 4 for most tests, but the Series 4 was always just a little bit faster. On Series 2 and older, apps took a good deal longer to open, and in some cases, like with the original Apple Watch, apps took so long we gave up.
So, what can we learn from this? You may not see major speed changes when upgrading to Series 4 from Series 3, though everything will feel snappier.
You will, however, notice an incredible difference upgrading from an original Apple Watch, Series 1 model, or Series 2 model, which makes upgrading from one of these older devices worthwhile.
In our opinion, if you're considering upgrading from a Series 2 or earlier to the Series 4, do it. The speed changes are so drastic that using the Apple Watch Series 4 is an entirely different experience than using an older Apple Watch.
Have you upgraded to a Series 4 from an older Apple Watch model? Let us know what you think about the new device in the comments below.
Over the course of the last week, the front-facing camera in the iPhone XS and XS Max has been receiving a lot of attention because the selfies captured on the new devices are drastically different from those captured with the iPhone X or earlier iPhone models.
In a MacRumors forum thread and on Reddit, Apple has been accused of using a skin-smoothing feature or a "beauty filter" for prettier selfies from the front-facing camera. The effect was demoed by a Reddit user in the image below:
We covered the issue in our recent iPhone XS Max vs. iPhone X camera comparison, where we did see the smoothing effect, but the front-facing camera's performance has garnered so much attention since then that we wanted to more prominently highlight the problem.
When taking a selfie in a situation where lighting is less than ideal, such as indoors or outdoors in areas with lower lighting, the iPhone XS Max appears to be applying a drastic smoothing effect that can hide freckles, blemishes, and other issues.
In full outdoor lighting the problem is less apparent, which has led to speculation that the skin smoothing is actually a result of some heavy-handed noise reduction techniques.
You can test the new camera yourself with an iPhone XS or XS Max and an older iPhone like an iPhone X model by taking selfies indoors and outdoors and comparing the differences between the two. In almost all cases where the lighting is low or uneven, photos captured with an iPhone XS Max look dramatically different.
It makes sense that we'd see differences between the iPhone XS and say, an iPhone 8 because the front-facing cameras are different, but as far as we know, the iPhone X and XS are using the same 7-megapixel front-facing camera. Apple detailed several changes to the rear-facing camera in the iPhone XS models, but beyond a new Neural Engine, there were no announced changes to the TrueDepth camera system.
Because the camera is the same, Apple is doing something different with the way photos are processed after being captured, which could be related to the new HDR features that have been implemented. Apple has a new A12 chip and next-generation Neural Engine that are aiding in photo processing to enable a Smart HDR feature that applies to both the rear and front-facing cameras.
Turning off HDR does not remove the smoothing effect, nor does tweaking any other camera setting, so if the ultra skin smoothing is a result of something like unintentional excessive noise reduction, it needs to be tweaked on Apple's end through a software update. YouTuber Unbox Therapy recently demoed the issue with a series of selfies.
While it's mostly the front-facing camera that's been under scrutiny, this is a problem that affects both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras and it's not entirely limited to skin. Excessive smoothing can be seen affecting other images as well.
There has been speculation that Apple intentionally implemented the skin smoothing feature to mimic the beauty mode that's popular in Asia and common on some other smartphones, but it's not clear if that was Apple's intention.
Many MacRumors readers and Reddit users have reported the issue to Apple, and given that this issue has received so much attention, we may see front-facing camera tweaks in a future iOS update.
The United States International Trade Commission will not be blocking imports of the iPhone in the ongoing Apple v. Qualcomm case, reports Reuters.
Qualcomm had asked the ITC to ban imports of the AT&T and T-Mobile iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models that use chips from Intel, citing multiple patent violations.
Qualcomm did not ask for a ban on iPhones that use Qualcomm LTE chips, with the reasoning that a more limited exclusion order was more likely to be granted.
An ITC judge said on Friday that while Apple's iPhones infringe on a patent related to power management technology, a ban will not be put in place. The judge cited "public interest factors" as one of the reasons why the court ruled against Qualcomm.
Neither Apple nor Qualcomm have commented on the decision as of yet, but it marks a major victory for Apple in its months-long legal battle with Qualcomm.
The two companies have been embroiled in an increasingly tense legal feud that kicked off in January 2017. Qualcomm and Apple have filed several more than a dozen lawsuits against one another since then.
Apple has accused Qualcomm of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with," while Qualcomm claims that its inventions form the "very core" of modern mobile communication.
Earlier this week, Qualcomm further escalated the dispute by accusing Apple of providing confidential trade information and trade secrets stolen from Qualcomm to Intel.
Apple this afternoon shared a new iPhone XS and XS Max ad called "Growth Spurt," which is a nod to the larger screen size of the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max.
In the minute-long spot, everything that's photographed with the new iPhone XS Max grows to an enormous size, including a cat, an avocado toast, a corgi, a woman, a golf ball, a pot sticker, a cookie, a fish, and more.
AdWeek got the inside scoop on the ad, which was directed by John Hillcoat, who also directed Cannes Lions-winning film Corazón. The video uses the song "Catch My Breath" by Confidence Man."
Since the launch of the iPhone XS and XS Max, Apple has shared several videos showing off the two new devices, including a guided tour, a feature video, a video focused on photography, and more.
Apple's two new devices, which feature an upgraded A12 chip, better photography capabilities, Face ID, and more, launched last week and are now available for purchase online and in Apple retail stores.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Tap to give MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's Tap Keyboard & Mouse setups.
The Tap, priced at $179, is a futuristic keyboard that you wear on your hands, using a series of finger taps to type different letters, numbers, and symbols.
Tap fits over your thumb and each of your fingers, with adjustable rings that can fit a wide variety of fingers. Sensors are built into each finger ring to detect the movement of your fingers, translating gestures into words for a novel, type anywhere experience.
There are different taps for each letter. A single tap of the thumb, for example, creates an A, while a tap of the index finger makes an E. To create a K, you tap your thumb and ring finger, and to create a B, you tap your index and pinky fingers at the same time.
Learning to use the Tap Keyboard takes just a few days thanks to a well-developed iOS app that walks you through each gesture one by one and then gamifies the learning experience by requiring you to beat tapping mini games.
We reviewed the Tap Keyboard earlier this year and were able to learn the taps in about a week with 30 minutes of practice per day.
Mastering the Tap keyboard will take some time, weeks to months, perhaps, but your typing will get faster as your fingers get used to the gestures. Some Tap users can type up to 60 words per minute, mimicking traditional keyboard speeds. Tap can also be used as a mouse replacement in a special mouse mode that involves using the thumb.
Tap works as a keyboard replacement on all of your iOS and Mac devices, like any other Bluetooth keyboard. There are also select Tap games that have Tap support and are played using unique tap gestures. Tap is fully customizable, so you can create Tap Maps for different games and use cases.
We have two of the Tap Keyboards to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (September 28) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 5. The winners will be chosen randomly on October 5 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Facebook this morning announced that its engineering team on Tuesday discovered that hackers have exploited a vulnerability in its code, allowing hackers to steal Facebook access tokens for almost 50 million accounts.
According to Facebook, hackers took advantage of security flaws in its "View As" code, which is a feature designed to let people see what their profile looks like to someone else. The Facebook access tokens that were stolen are digital keys that allow people to stay logged in to Facebook.
This attack exploited the complex interaction of multiple issues in our code. It stemmed from a change we made to our video uploading feature in July 2017, which impacted "View As." The attackers not only needed to find this vulnerability and use it to get an access token, they then had to pivot from that account to others to steal more tokens.
It is not clear whether the accounts affected were misused or have had information accessed at this time, and Facebook does not know who executed the attacks.
Facebook says that the vulnerability has been patched at this time, and authorities have been informed. Facebook has reset the access tokens of the nearly 50 million accounts that were affected along with another 40 million accounts that have been subject to a "View As" lookup in the last year.
Customers who have been logged out of their apps will receive a message about what happened once they log back in.
While a security review is conducted, Facebook is turning off the "View As" feature that was used for the hack.
Facebook says that it is "sorry this happened" and that people's privacy and security "is incredibly important." No one needs to change their passwords, according to Facebook, but those concerned can visit the "Security and Login" section in settings to log out of all devices at once.
Today's Facebook hack comes just a day after Facebook was found to be using phone numbers that customers provided for 2-factor authentication for ad targeting purposes and shadow contact building.
iPhone camera lens supplier Largan Precision is developing a special black coating for front-facing smartphone camera lenses, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst at Chinese investment firm GF Securities.
Pu's research note, shared by Taiwanese publications Economic Daily News and MoneyDJ, claims that one or two smartphone makers could adopt the technology as early as 2020. Given that Largan already has a relationship with Apple, it is speculated that the special coating could be applied to future iPhones.
A translated version of the Economic Daily News report says the special coating would allow the front camera lens to "completely disappear." A translation of the MoneyDJ report says the coating will be "pure black," eliminating the "small spots" like those visible in the notch on the iPhone X and newer.
The front camera lens already blends into the notch pretty well on iPhones, but it is visible from certain angles and lighting conditions. The special coating would presumably make the lens completely invisible to the eye.
Apple design chief Jony Ive has long dreamed of an iPhone that resembles a single sheet of glass, and hiding the front camera lens would be yet another step towards that goal, even if it sounds like an insignificant change. This is the first time we've heard this rumor, however, so treat it with some skepticism.
Back in July 2017, U.S. District Judge William Conley ordered Apple to pay $506 million to the University of Wisconsin's Alumni Research Foundation for infringing on a patent related to computer processing technology in the company's A7, A8, and A8X chips. Conley had added $272 million on top of an existing $234 million in damages that a jury ordered Apple to pay in 2015, around when the lawsuit originated.
Today, Reuters reports that Apple has managed to persuade a federal appeals court to throw out at least part of the lawsuit, namely the $234 million in damages.
According to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, no reasonable juror could have been able to find infringement based on the evidence that was presented in the liability phase of the trial in 2015, leading to its decision. It's unclear why the original $234 million damages award has been appealed, but without any mention of the $272 million extension being thrown out.
Apple Inc persuaded a federal appeals court on Friday to throw out a $234 million damages award in favor of the University of Wisconsin’s patent licensing arm for infringing the school’s patent on computer processing technology.
[The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals] said Apple deserved judgment as a matter of law in the case brought by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
During the trial, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation originally asked for damages worth $862 million, but lowered the request to around $400 million. The patent in question, titled "Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer," was originally granted in 1998 and covers a method for improving processor efficiency. It lists several current and former University of Wisconsin researchers as inventors.
Overcast version 5.0.2 was released today, bringing additional Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12 and new Apple Watch complications to the popular third-party podcast player.
The new Apple Watch complications can be located on the central or corner positions of the Infograph watch face that features on Series 4 models, offering users another way to quickly launch the app from their wrist.
For fans of Siri Shortcuts, Overcast now supports three additional options. One lets you quickly enable or cancel the sleep timer, while the other two allow you to generate either standard or timestamped links for the podcast episode you're currently listening to, making for easier sharing.
Elsewhere in this update, the Nitpicky Details menu includes an option to reduce the haptic level related to certain functions, and users now have more control over the Auto-Sync to Watch feature, with toggles available for playlists as well as individual episodes.
Lastly, this point update fixes a handful of bugs and crashes, and adds a one-tap preset for the previous interval to the sleep timer. Overcast 5.0.2 is available as a free ad-supported app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Authorities have issued arrest warrants for 17 people who were running an Apple Store theft ring across California, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today.
The individuals involved robbed Apple retail stores in 19 different counties, including several in the Bay Area, where Apple's headquarters are located. More than $1 million worth of Apple goods were stolen.
The robbers were known for wearing hoodies and storming Apple Stores in large groups to snatch up products that were on display "in a matter of seconds."
Law enforcement agencies in Oakland and San Luis Obispo handled the investigation, but multiple law enforcement agencies across the state were involved in capturing the criminals. "The successful collaborative efforts of law enforcement has resulted in dismantling a large criminal ring," said Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick.
According to Attorney General Becerra, organized theft rings like the one apprehended this week "cost California business owners millions" and ultimately lead to consumers paying the cost.
Seven of those involved were arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Alameda County Jail, while another person is in custody in Sonoma County. The remaining nine suspects have yet to be arrested, but will be when located. Charges include plotting to commit grand theft against individuals.
Apple today released a new software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 5 to watchOS 5.0.1. The new watchOS 5.0.1 release comes 10 days after Apple released the watchOS 5 update.
watchOS 5.0.1 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General -> Software Update.
To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone.
The watchOS 5.0.1 update is minor in scale and focuses on fixing bugs that have been discovered since the watchOS 5 update. According to Apple's release notes, watchOS 5.0.1 addresses an issue that caused a "small number of users" to see increased exercise minutes, fixes a bug that caused some users not to receive stand credit in the afternoon, and solves a problem that could prevent the Apple Watch from charging.
watchOS 5, the latest major watchOS update, brought a slew of new features to the operating system. It includes Activity Competitions for challenging friends, a Walkie-Talkie mode with real-time push-to-talk communication, support for Siri shortcuts, new watch faces, and tons more.
macOS Mojave introduces a new method of installing software updates, so after the initial beta has been installed using the appropriate profile from Apple, additional betas can be downloaded through opening up System Preferences and choosing the "Software Update" option.
The 10.14.1 update re-introduces support for Group FaceTime, a feature that was removed during the beta testing period. Group FaceTime, which lets you chat with up to 32 people at once, is also present in the iOS 12.1 beta.
It's not clear what other improvements the first update to macOS Mojave will bring, but it likely includes performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that weren't addressed in the first release of macOS Mojave.
macOS Mojave is a major update that brings features like a systemwide Dark Mode, stacks for organizing messy desktops, new Finder capabilities, new tools for taking screenshots, a Continuity Camera option for easily transferring photo scans and documents from iPhone to Mac, and more. For more on macOS Mojave, make sure to check out our roundup.
Back in July 2017, U.S. District Judge William Conley 
