MacRumors

Apple's iOS 10 preview, seeded to developers last week, does not feature an encrypted kernel and thus gives users access to the inner workings of the operating system and potential security flaws, reports MIT Technology Review. It is not known if this was an unintentional mistake or done deliberately to encourage more bug reports.

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Security experts say the famously secretive company may have adopted a bold new strategy intended to encourage more people to report bugs in its software--or perhaps made an embarrassing mistake.

In past versions of iOS, Apple has encrypted the kernel, aka the core of the operating system, which dictates how software uses the iPhone's hardware and keeps it secure. According to experts who spoke to the MIT Technology Review, leaving iOS unencrypted doesn't leave the security of iOS 10 compromised, but it makes it easier to find flaws in the operating system. Security flaws in iOS can be used to create jailbreaks or create malware.

The goodies exposed publicly for the first time include a security measure designed to protect the kernel from being modified, says security researcher Mathew Solnik. "Now that it is public, people will be able to study it [and] potentially find ways around it," he says.

Apple has declined to comment on whether the lack of encryption was intentional or a mistake, but security expert Jonathan Zdziarski believes it was done by choice because it's not a mistake Apple is likely to have made. "This would have been an incredibly glaring oversight, like forgetting to put doors on an elevator," he told MIT Technology Review.

He further suggests Apple may have chosen this route to prevent the hoarding of vulnerabilities like the one that was ultimately used by the FBI to break into the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook and to have more people looking at the code to discover latent security flaws.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Apple today added nine new channels to the universal search function on the fourth-generation Apple TV, introducing support for A&E, Cooking Channel, DIY, Food Network, FYI, HGTV, History, Lifetime, and Travel Channel.

For those unfamiliar with universal search, it's a feature that allows users to conduct Siri voice searches or text-based searches to find TV and movie content across a wide range of channels. At launch, universal search only supported a few channels, but Apple has been rapidly expanding the feature to encompass additional channels.

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Apple maintains a dedicated support document providing Apple TV owners with a full list of content that can be found via Siri using universal search. Unfortunately, universal search is an option largely limited to the United States. In most other countries, only iTunes content is currently supported, while Netflix is also supported in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

iPhone 6 Touch IDApple's fight against an ongoing "error 53" lawsuit came to an end today when a U.S. district court judge dismissed the case and declared that the plaintiffs "lack standing to pursue injunctive relief" and have not been able to prove permanent data loss.

Apple's error 53 woes began in February, when the media picked up a story about an ongoing "error 53" message that was permanently bricking iPhones. As it turned out, Apple had implemented a feature that disabled the iPhones of customers who had unauthorized repairs on the home buttons of their devices.

Non-matching repair components or damage that affected the Touch ID fingerprint sensor caused an iOS device to fail a Touch ID validation check because the mismatched parts were unable to properly sync. The validation check occurred during an iOS update or restore, and when failed, Apple disabled the iPhone, effectively "bricking" it in an effort to protect Touch ID and the related Secure Enclave that stores customer fingerprint information. Apple eventually said the error 53 bricking issue was meant to be a factory test that should not have affected customers.

Just days after the error 53 news began circulating, Apple was hit with a lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages and a repair program for affected devices. Plaintiffs accused Apple of false advertising and failing to warn consumers about the security features that ultimately rendered their iPhones inoperable and caused data loss.

Following the lawsuit, Apple released an updated version of iOS that restored iPhones and iPads affected by error 53 to working condition and prevented it from happening to additional devices. Apple also reimbursed customers who paid for out-of-warranty replacements for their devices and ensured all affected customers had working devices.

In May, Apple filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit based on its fix and reimbursement efforts, but the plaintiffs continued to argue that Apple hadn't done enough to warn customers and hadn't made it easy enough to get their devices fixed.

Those arguments fell on deaf ears, as the judge did indeed grant Apple's dismissal motion, dissecting all of the plaintiffs' claims and rendering them unsuitable for the continuation of the lawsuit. One of the main claims was data loss, but the plaintiffs were not able to prove data loss separate from the error 53 malfunction, nor were they able to prove Apple was aware of the error 53 defect to support claims of false advertising.

With regard to Apple's alleged omissions, the plaintiffs' position seems to be that Apple should have "disclosed that their devices would be destroyed by imbedded features if they had repaired devices using an independent service and then updated to certain iOS versions." But the plaintiffs haven't plausibly alleged that Apple actually knew of this alleged risk. [...]

But the mere fact that a company has designed a product doesn't mean it automatically knows about all of that product's potential design flaws.

The plaintiffs in the case will be able to amend their claims to address the issues raised by the judge, so the lawsuit may be reconsidered in the future.

apple_tv_squareApple today provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming 9.2.2 update to tvOS, the operating system that runs on the fourth-generation Apple TV. The third tvOS 9.2.2 beta comes two weeks after the release of the second beta and more than a month after the launch of tvOS 9.2.1. tvOS 9.2.2 has been in testing since May 23.

tvOS betas are more difficult to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta releases will be available over the air.

tvOS 9.2.2 is a minor 9.x.x update, focusing on bug fixes and performance improvements. Apple's release notes have suggested the update includes bug fixes and security improvements, and no outward-facing changes were spotted in the first two betas.

This post will be updated if we discover any new features or fixes in the third beta of tvOS 9.2.2.

Apple is also working on the next-generation version of tvOS, tvOS 10, which includes new Siri features, single sign-on cable authentication, and more. tvOS 10, currently available to developers, will be released to the public in the fall.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan update to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the second OS X 10.11.6 beta and more than a month after the public release of OS X 10.11.5. OS X 10.11.6 has been in testing since May 23.

The OS X 10.11.6 update can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

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OS X 10.11.6, like OS X 10.11.5 and the El Capitan updates that came before it, focuses mainly on performance improvements and bug fixes rather than outward-facing changes. According to Apple's release notes, the update improves the stability, compatibility, and security of Macs.

No obvious changes or bug fixes were found in the first two betas, but we'll update this post should anything new be discovered in the third beta. Apple has also started testing macOS Sierra, the next-generation Mac operating system set to be released this fall.

Related Forum: OS X El Capitan

Rumors have suggested the 2016 iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not feature major design changes aside from the removal of the headphone jack, information that has been confirmed in a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus will continue to feature 4.7 and 5.5-inch displays, with only "subtle changes" to the exterior of the devices. Past rumors indicate the two devices will be the same general size as the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but with relocated antenna bands that no longer span across the back of the bodies.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the removal of the headphone jack will make the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus thinner while also improving its water resistance. Just how thin is a matter of contention in rumors -- schematics show little reduction in thickness but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the iPhone 7 could be 1mm thinner than the current iPhone 6s.

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Mockup of what the iPhone 7 will look like

While 2016 will mark a minor update, 2017 will bring major changes to the iPhone in celebration of the device's 10th anniversary. Citing sources "familiar with the matter," The Wall Street Journal suggests features could include an edge-to-edge OLED display with built-in Touch ID fingerprint support to allow Apple to eliminate the home button.

Apple is said to be deviating from its standard tick-tock upgrade cycle in order to introduce major new features in the 2017 iPhone, which take time to develop.

At a meeting with an Apple executive last month, one of the company's China-based engineers asked why this year's model lacked a major design change in keeping with Apple's usual two-year cycle. The answer, one person at the meeting recalled, was that the new technology in the pipeline will take time to implement.

People familiar with the matter said some features that Apple hopes to integrate into iPhones, such as curved screens, weren't ready for this year's models.

It is not known if Apple is permanently moving away from introducing new designs on an every-other-year basis, or if the 2016-2017 shift is a temporary one.

While The Wall Street Journal's report confirms the removal of the headphone jack in the next-generation iPhone, it makes no mention of other feature improvements that are expected, including a larger camera sensor in the iPhone 7 and a dual-camera setup in the iPhone 7 Plus.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3.3 update to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the second beta of iOS 9.3.3 and more than a month after the release of iOS 9.3.2, a minor bug fix update. iOS 9.3.3 has been in testing since May 23.

The third iOS 9.3.3 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.

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As a minor 9.x.x update, iOS 9.3.3 features under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of iOS 9.3.2. No outward-facing changes or obvious bug fixes were discovered in the first two betas of iOS 9.3.3.

iOS 9.3.3 beta three follows the developer launch of iOS 10, a new version of iOS that will be released to the public this fall. We'll update this post with any changes that are found in the third iOS 9.3.3 beta.

Related Forum: iOS 9

Twitter today announced that video lengths on the social networking site will be expanded from 30 seconds to 140 seconds long, with select publishers still granted exemption from the limit with the ability to post up to 10 minute long videos. The company called video "increasingly central to the real-time conversations happening on Twitter," and noted that video-related Tweets had increased over 50 percent since 2016 began.

To help facilitate more video views from its users, Twitter will be updating its iOS and Android apps with a new "full-screen viewing experience" that pops up whenever you tap on any tweeted video on your timeline. Everyone will be able to take advantage of the new 140-second videos beginning today, but the app update is said to be "rolling out soon."

The company is also launching a separate, all-new app focused on analytics. Called "Twitter Engage," users will be able to better understand and decipher the performance of their tweets with "real-time data and insights." The app, which is specifically targeted at "influential creators" but available to anyone who's interested, lets users track tweet activity, get notifications from the most important followers, and provide a breakdown of the highest and lowest performing tweets posted to an account.

Twitter Engage app
Similar lengthy video updates are also coming to the Twitter-owned Vine app, where a select handful of creators will be able to stretch the 6-second platform to a full 140-second video that the company equates to "a trailer for a bigger story." The video-related updates appear to be inspired around the YouTube-centric VidCon, happening June 23-25 in Anaheim, California. The company encourages those interested to follow Twitter Video for up-to-the-minute news -- and Tweets using the longer format -- coming out of the conference.

Tag: Twitter

Apple SIM partner GigSky has announced that it has expanded availability of its pay-as-you-go cellular data plans for iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 and 4 to over 140 countries, up from more than 90 countries and territories in June 2015.

The new additions, among others, include Afghanistan, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Argentina, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Pakistan, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tajikistan, Turks and Caicos, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Apple has a full list of countries on its website.

GigSky Apple SIM
Apple SIM is embedded in the latest cellular iPads and enables users to easily switch between different short-term data plans from select carrier partners without needing multiple SIM cards. It is particularly useful for traveling abroad, especially now that coverage reaches more than 140 countries and territories through GigSky.

Other Apple SIM partners include AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the United States, EE in the United Kingdom, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Three in Hong Kong, and au by KDDI in Japan. AlwaysOnline Wireless also offers pay-as-you-go LTE data plans in at least 45 countries, with the option to pay by hour, day, or megabyte.

Apple has opened registration in the U.S. and a number of other countries (links below) for its annual Apple Summer Camp, where kids aged 8 to 12 can attend a company retail store and learn how to create interactive books and movies using Apple products and software, ranging from iBooks Author on Mac to iMovie on iPad.

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Apple's summer workshops will be hosted between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time, on various dates between July 11 and August 12, in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Parents are recommended to sign up early due to limited spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This year's free workshops are called "Stories in Motion with iMovie" and "Interactive Storytelling with iBooks." A third workshop will be offered in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom called "Coding Games and Programming Robots," in which kids will learn visual block-based coding for games, apply logic skills and problem solving, learn to program their own robots, and more.

Apple notes that children attending Apple Summer Camp 2016 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian for the duration of each workshop. Once their initial registration is confirmed, parents can register another child. All campers will receive a complimentary youth-size Apple Summer Camp t-shirt.

A group of three former Apple engineers, along with around 50 various designers and workers also formerly employed by Apple, have created a new startup in the vehicle accessory market, called Pearl, and today announced pre-orders on their product "RearVision." The $500 device is an attachable license plate accessory that connects via Bluetooth to an iOS or Android smartphone, displaying a 180-degree rear-view field of vision when backing up your car (via The Verge).

pearl rearvision device
The RearVision unit comes with a dongle that connects with a vehicle's on-board diagnostic port to help communicate and determine the car's speed, and battery power isn't a concern since the device charges using an integrated solar panel. Bryan Gardner, one of the co-founders of the company, said that one full day of sun equates to an entire week of charge for the device, and the RearVision can store one month of battery in its reserves.

Otherwise, the device functions like many integrated rear-view cameras: when backing up, the device's dual-camera system automatically sends video to the connected smartphone in optional portrait view (with two levels of zoom) or landscape view. Two alternate alerts emit from the smartphone when the RearVision camera wants the user to slow down for a passerby or another car, and a more insistent sound when a collision might be imminent and the driver should stop the car completely.

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Once the car is in forward motion above 10 mph, RearVision shuts off the rear-view camera and moves into a "Home Screen" section of the app. Here, users can choose their favorite and most used driving apps -- Google Maps, Apple Maps, Spotify, Apple Music, etc -- and place them in the Home Screen of RearVision's app, which is generally a launching shortcut to quickly access the designated apps while on the move.

Gardner hopes that the company's angle to support an install base of users (who have older cars without pre-installed rear-view cameras) will help promote safety in the automotive industry. The National Highway Safety Administration recently put into motion a ruling that will make all new cars launching in 2018 and beyond come with such technology ready for the user, but that still leaves a large swath of used and pre-owned vehicles without the ease-of-mind rear-view cameras can provide.

While the government can insist new cars get safer, they can't do anything about older vehicles. That is both a crisis and an opportunity. "There’s about 7 percent of new car inventory that comes in the market every year. That leaves more than 90 percent of the cars are not new every year," says Bryson Gardner, Pearl's co-founder and CEO.

"We saw the entire industry focused on new cars. So we figured let’s focus on the existing install base. " Gardner confirmed that the company already has other products in mind, but was coy about exactly what would come next. "If you were to go buy a Mercedes and there’s a driver awareness package, all of the things in there is the most important to get into the car in the short term."

Those interested can pre-order the RearVision today for $499.99, with Pearl promising its knowledge of the Apple supply chain will help greatly in eliminating "any of the manufacturing pitfalls that have become common among small hardware startups." The company also says that set-up is simple and doesn't require anything besides a screwdriver and your smartphone. As of writing, the predicted shipping date for Pearl's RearVision camera is sometime in September.

Adobe today announced the launch of its latest Creative Cloud updates, bringing new tools and more "Adobe Magic" to a range of apps including Photoshop CC, After Effects CC, Premiere Pro CC, Illustrator CC, and more.

There are several new features available in Photoshop CC, including Content-Aware Crop, Face-Aware Liquify, and Match Font, plus a new workspace for selections and masking. Content-Aware Crop intelligently fills in the open areas when a canvas is expanded or rotated beyond the original image size, allowing for more options when editing an image to get the perfect crop or angle.

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Face-Aware Liquify automatically recognizes the different elements of a face when using the liquify tool, giving users direct control over facial features like eyes, nose, and mouth for making quick artistic changes. Match Font, the final major new feature in Photoshop CC, analyzes an image to determine what font was used, bringing it up in Photoshop if it's already installed and locating it in TypeKit if it isn't previously owned.

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Adobe Premiere CC includes new workflows for editing immersive VR and 360 video experiences with a "field of view" mode for working with spherical stitched video. It offers options for dynamically switching between monoscopic, stereoscopic, and anaglyph frame layouts, and there's a new workflow for editing while video and audio are still importing in the background.

After Effects CC features a new audio and video preview engine for smoother playback for cached frames plus new GPU-accelerated Gaussian Blur and Lumetri Color effects for faster rendering, while Animate CC includes enhanced brushes and improved web publishing and Illustrator CC features fast export of assets and artboards.

Adobe Stock is now able to integrate with Creative Cloud applications through a new One-Click Workflow that allows users to choose an image or video from the Adobe Stock website and open it in an app with a single click. There's also a one-click licensing feature to purchase images directly within Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

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Adobe is debuting a Premium Collection for Adobe Stock, featuring close to 100,000 high-quality images from artists and photographers, and beginning in July, Creative Cloud customers will be able to upload their own images to Adobe Stock.

Across all of Adobe's Creative Cloud, there are new read-only libraries so Creative Cloud Libraries can be shared with team members for viewing purposes without giving all users the option of changing or deleting content, and all nearly apps have gained dozens of minor tweaks, bug fixes, and feature improvements.

"We have two key goals with this release: saving our customers time and helping them jumpstart their creative engines," said Bryan Lamkin, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Media at Adobe. "Every creative project starts with a blank page and ends with a vision coming to life. Today's release of Creative Cloud will help make that journey as fast and productive as possible. From deeper integration of Adobe Stock into the CC experience, to amazing new features like Content-Aware Crop in Adobe Photoshop, this release will expedite the creative process for millions of our customers."

Some of these features were previously announced by Adobe on the Adobe blog and at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, but they're launching as part of today's Creative Cloud update and should be available shortly.

Adobe offers full Creative Cloud subscriptions for $49.99 per month, and those who have not subscribed can sign up for a 30-day free trial. Adobe also offers a $9.99 photography plan with access to Lightroom and Photoshop.

Misfit and Speedo have teamed up for a second-generation Speedo Shine, which is launching today. Like the first Speedo Shine, the Speedo Shine 2 is an activity, swim, and sleep tracker, but the updated version includes many features adopted from Misfit's Shine 2 activity tracker.

The Speedo Shine 2 includes a new vibration motor along with multicolor lights for better user feedback. Lap progress and time can be tracked through the different colored lights, and there are also Misfit Move activity reminders.

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A new countdown swim timer is included to allow users to pick a length of time for a swim, with the Speedo Shine 2 offering vibration alerts when a workout is complete, and there's a silent vibrating alarm and alerts for incoming texts and phone calls.

The Speedo Shine 2 also features Misfit Link compatibility, enabling the device to be used as a music remote, selfie trigger, and remote for controlling connected home products, and more. Hardware wise, Speedo Shine 2 includes improved touch responsiveness, faster syncing, a better Bluetooth range, and a thinner body. The included multicolor lights are bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight and can be set to more than 16 million colors.

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"Whether you're training competitively or swimming for fitness, you want your focus to be on speed and form - not tracking laps. With the Speedo Shine 2, you can concentrate on your efforts in the pool without distractions," said Team Speedo USA athlete and four-time Olympic medalist Cullen Jones. "Speedo Shine 2 is an ideal aid for athletes and fitness enthusiasts to maximize their time in the water while keeping track of their overall fitness and sleep."

Misfit is also introducing a $9.99 in-app purchase that will enable Speedo Shine-style swimming tracking and lap counting in the Misfit Ray and Misfit Shine 2.

The Speedo Shine 2 can be purchased from the Misfit website or the Speedo website for $119.99.

Tags: Misfit, Speedo

Apple LogoThe Supreme Court yesterday made it a few steps easier for technology companies like Apple to challenge lawsuits from "patent assertion businesses," or patent trolls. The decision implemented part of a 2011 law that created "quicker and cheaper" avenues into contesting patents with the Patent Office, instead of having to delve into a lengthy court battle or face a federal judge (via The Wall Street Journal).

This way, companies like Apple -- who face patent trolls frequently -- could easily argue against unseemly patent lawsuits in far less time, and without spending as much money.

Speaking for the court system, Justice Stephen Breyer said that the new ruling in favor of the Patent Office approach will help "to protect the public" since it'll prevent potential patent trolls from claiming overly broad patents that "might discourage the use of the invention by a member of the public."

The 2011 law created quicker and cheaper procedures for contesting patents in front of the Patent Office instead of in front of a federal judge. But some argued the procedures overcompensated and made patents too vulnerable. That is because the Patent Office adopted challenger-friendly legal standards that were different than those used in courts.

The Supreme Court acknowledged the Patent Office rules depart from those used in court, but said the agency had taken a reasonable approach.

So far, cases emerging from the Patent Office are said to rule largely in favor of the individual or company contesting the patent. According to recent government data, a reported 80 percent of the trials completed so far through the Patent Office board have seen the cancellation of the patent in question.

Apple is nearly constantly in the news surrounding various lawsuits and litigation updates, a large sum of which are usually centered around companies that claim they are "absolutely not" a patent troll. The new ruling should help alleviate the headache and streamline the contesting process for some of these cases made against the company.

Google is making the two-factor authentication process to log into a user account a simpler affair by integrating it into the company's iOS search app.

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to users' Google Apps accounts by requiring them to enter a verification code in addition to their username and password when signing into their account. The two-step verification process prevents unauthorized access if someone obtains a user password.

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Previously, users had to opt to receive a text message or phone call to get an authentication code, or alternatively use the Google Authenticator mobile app, which generates time-limited numerical codes that users needed to enter into their account log-in page.

The change, which is being rolled out from today, means that when a user tries to sign into a Google account with two-step verification enabled, a notification from the Google search app now asks if they are trying to sign in. A simple tap on the option "Yes, allow sign-in" quickly authenticates the account.

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To enable two-factor authentication, users need to sign into Google's My Account section and select Google prompt under Sign-in & Security -> Signing in to Google -> 2-Step Verification.

Google notes that the option requires a data connection to work, and that it may take up to three days for the feature to appear across all account pages.

The Google app is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Microsoft yesterday launched a management app for its online workflow service and IFTTT competitor, called Flow.

For those unfamiliar with the idea, services like IFTTT let you connect different digital platforms and automate actions between them, like having all Gmail attachments save to a Dropbox account, or making every new entry added to a contact list sync to a Google spreadsheet.

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Flow first debuted in April as a web service for creating workflows for two or more cloud services, simplifying things like file synchronization and data organization. But Flow also supports a number of other triggers, like receiving a text message when a particular person emails you, or automatically following a Twitter account that mentions your business in a tweet and adding it to a database.

With the launch of the iOS app, Flow now supports workflow options for more services, but keeps the focus on integrations with Microsoft's own business tools, such as Office 365, Dynamics CRM, PowerApps, and Yammer. Automation for business-related services like MailChip, GitHub, Salesforce, and Slack are also supported.


The iOS app lets users manage existing 'flows' created from the web service, allowing users to disable them, view their properties, and generate error checking reports to ensure they're working properly. There's also a searchable activity feed in the app that shows all recent Flow actions, which can be tapped to get more details on.

The app also supports push notifications for trigger issues, and Microsoft promises it will soon include the ability to create new workflows without having to sign into the web-based service.

Microsoft Flow is a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Ultimate Ears today announced a firmware update that brings Siri and Google Now integration to its UE Boom 2 and UE Megaboom speakers, making it easier for iPhone and Android users to play and control music on the devices without needing to access their phones.

With Siri integration, pushing the Bluetooth button on the UE Boom 2 or the UE Megaboom activates Apple's virtual assistant, allowing users to do things like request specific songs through Apple Music, place phone calls, and more. Google Now integration offers similar capabilities on Android devices.

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"Music lovers can now truly stay in the moment, playing their favorite song from the middle of the pool or even while diving off a cliff with their UE speaker in hand," said Charlotte Johs, general manager of Ultimate Ears. "No matter how wet, muddy or wild the situation, with Siri and Google Now voice integration on UE BOOM 2 and UE MEGABOOM, fans no longer need to pick up their phone to play DJ. Now, they can just say it to play it."

Ultimate Ears is known for creating waterproof, shockproof speakers that are able to hold up to the elements for listening to music at home and on the go, and Siri integration should be a welcome addition for iPhone users who often use their UE speakers in wet or dirty conditions.

The firmware update can be installed through an update to the UE Boom and UE Megaboom apps, which is available today.

The UE Boom 2 and the UE Megaboom can be purchased from the Ultimate Ears website for $200 and $300, respectively. Both the UE Boom 2 and the UE Megaboom are also available from Amazon.com at slightly lower prices.

Last week Adobe issued a security advisory for Flash Player, indicating that version 21.0.0.242 and earlier had a critical vulnerability that could potentially cause a crash and allow an attacker to take control of the infected system. Adobe issued a fix a couple days later.

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Apple today published a support document explaining that users with out-of-date versions of the Adobe Flash Player plug-ins will see a "Blocked plug-in," "Flash Security Alert," or "Flash out-of-date" message when attempting to view Flash content in Safari.

Plug-ins like Adobe Flash Player have long been an issue for Apple, requiring forced updates and security fixes to patch vulnerabilities. When vulnerabilities arise, Apple has been consistent in blocking older versions of the web plug-ins. Apple is looking to reduce the risk of potential issues with macOS Sierra, in which Safari will deactivate Flash Player and other plug-ins by default in an effort to push the more modern HTML5.

To continue using Flash, users must download the latest Adobe Flash Player update from Adobe's website.