Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that debuted on March 30. Release 2 includes a long list of feature tweaks and updates to JavaScript, CSS, Web APIs, Web Inspector, Accessibility, Rendering, Media, and Networking, plus bug fixes. Release notes are available on Apple's Safari Technology Preview website.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser.
Apple's goal with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development ahead of launch. Safari Technology Preview can be run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while aimed at developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Security researchers Patrick Kelley and Matt Harrigan have uncovered a new way to exploit the infamous January 1, 1970 bug that was found to be the cause of bricked iPhones in February. Despite Apple's patch of the original issue in iOS 9.3, Kelley and Harrigan discovered the way in which an iPhone constantly looks for trusted Wi-Fi networks could lend itself to the malicious bricking of a Wi-Fi enabled Apple device, without the user even knowing it was happening.
In a hypothetical example described by Krebs on Security, if a user confirms that a network called "attwifi" is a trusted connection, any subsequent network they come into contact with boasting the same name will connect with their iPhone. That way, when users revisit the same location frequently, they never have to fiddle with going through the Wi-Fi set-up process again. But the feature could be used to silently weaponize the 1970 bug, connecting users to similarly-named networks they've never encountered and altering the date and time stamps of their iOS devices.
In their research, Kelley and Harrigan used this feature of iPhones and iPads to build a nefarious Wi-Fi network, harnessing the requirement of iOS devices to occasionally connect to a network time protocol (NTP) server to keep date and time in sync. Once a user connected to their thought-to-be trusted network, the iPhone would reconfigure its software to update the date and time information from Kelley and Harrigan's own NTP date, which they specified as January 1, 1970.
Harrigan, president and CEO of San Diego-based security firm PacketSled, described the meltdown thusly:
“One thing we noticed was when we set the date on the iPad to 1970, the iPad display clock started counting backwards. While we were plugging in the second test iPad 15 minutes later, the first iPad said it was Dec. 15, 1968. I looked at Patrick and was like, ‘Did you mess with that thing?’ He hadn’t. It finally stopped at 1965, and by that time [the iPad] was about the temperature I like my steak served at.”
Harrigan and Kelley coordinated with Apple when they discovered their findings to avoid preempting the company's promise of a fix for the bug, and possibly encouraging its malicious use in the wild. As such, the company has fixed the issue and anyone running iOS 9.3.1 will be protected from the new iteration of the 1970 bug. Older iOS releases, including the original iOS 9.3 update, are still susceptible, however.
With the release of their research, the two security experts are understandably encouraging users to update their iPhones and iPads as soon as possible, and have created a video to better explain the issue.
Starbucks yesterday announced a new version of its iOS app, featuring an overhauled design that aims to offer a more personalized experience for its customers and highlight the benefits of its loyalty program.
A new homepage for the app puts the company's Stars rewards front and center, enabling users to keep track of how many stars they've accrued and redeem them more easily.
Collected stars are displayed via an interactive Stars screen that shows customers how close they are to their next reward and allows them to use their finger as a "magnet" to create their own constellations.
The new homepage also keeps users regularly updated with personalized offers and displays live music track information highlighting what's "Now Playing" in Starbucks stores.
The update introduces the option for members to redeem rewards and offers through its Mobile Order & Pay platform, which was introduced in the United States in September 2015. Members were unable to redeem rewards through the app until now.
However, stars are now earned by how much customers spend in stores, rather than how often they make purchases. The change translates to two stars for every dollar spent, instead of one star per visit, which means customers will have to spend $63 more to qualify for a free reward.
Reward program tiers have also been reduced from three to two in the new scheme, meaning customers must earn more stars than previously in order to go up a tier.
Starbucks says its app is used by 17 million people and Rewards members can expect more features soon, including the ability to earn Stars outside of Starbucks.
Starbucks is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
Google is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Calendar service with the addition of a new feature in its iOS app that aims to help users meet personal goals.
The new feature uses machine learning in an effort to help users stick to projected goals by sending reminders and rescheduling around other events in their calendar if necessary.
Tapping on the new Goal option in the Add menu brings up a list of preset goal choices. Goal types include "Exercise", "Build a Skill", and "Me Time", or users can create their own.
After choosing a goal type, users are asked how often they'd like to achieve it and what time of the day is best for them, after which Google Calendar will attempt to automatically find an open slot in the diary and offer to send notification reminders.
If another event is added that conflicts with a set goal time, Google Calendar automatically reschedules it for another available time. Google claims that the more the feature is used, the better the app gets at choosing ideal times for set goal activities.
Adobe has announced major updates to Premiere Pro CC and its other video apps, with VR workflows spearheading a new focus on immersive VR and 360 video experiences.
Set for an "early summer" release, the CC platform updates bring new VR capabilities to Adobe's flagship video editor, in the form of a "field of view" mode that allows editors to work with imported spherical stitched video and see what a viewer would see when looking in a given direction.
The new mode will allow users to dynamically switch between monoscopic, stereoscopic and anaglyph frame layouts, freely reposition the viewing angle across 360 degrees while editing, and export video with VR tags so that video players like YouTube automatically recognize it.
Adobe also announced a new workflow that enables editors to begin editing during "ingest" while importing video and audio in the background, as well as new proxy workflows for working with high resolution formats including 8K, HDR and HFR media.
Additionally, Adobe is expanding Premier Pro's Lumetri color correction toolkit, which should give editors finer control when isolating and adjusting specific colors using HSL secondaries. New navigational keyboard shortcuts, an added Twitter export option, and extra captioning and titling features are also part of the forthcoming update.
Many other apps in Adobe's Creative Cloud suite are also set to benefit from the new release. Other feature highlights coming to Adobe CC include:
Media Encoder: A clearer media browser panel is coming to Adobe's standalone encoding app, as well as support for Audition and Character Animator apps.
After Effects CC: The motion graphics and special effects editor is being given a new audio and video preview engine for smoother playback for cached frames, new GPU-accelerated Gaussian Blur and Lumetri Color effects for faster rendering, and new 3D media export options.
Audition CC: A new Essential Sound panel boasts simpler sound mixing and preset saving, while a quick export option lets editors send video projects with finished audio directly to Adobe Media Encoder.
Character Animator CC: A new puppet tag panel enables users to apply multiple motion trigger behaviors to video, track puppets in the field of view and quickly switch between facial profiles.
Adobe Stock CC: Tighter integration with Adobe's suite of apps and a new filtered and tagged search system for quick access to over 50 million images and video clips from within Premiere Pro and After Effects.
The new features were announced by Adobe ahead of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show next week, where it will be previewing the updates to Creative Cloud, which are expected to be made available to subscribers in the coming months.
Adobe offers subscriptions to Creative Cloud for $49.99 a month, while non-subscribers have the option of a free 30-day trial. More information about Adobe video apps and Creative Cloud is available on Adobe's website.
Rumors have suggested the FBI employed Israeli mobile forensics firm Cellebrite to hack into the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, but new information from The Washington Post suggests it was instead done with the help of "professional hackers" at least one of which is a "gray hat" researcher that sells flaws to governments, black market groups, or companies that create surveillance tools.
According to sources who spoke to The Washington Post, the hackers told the FBI about a previously unknown software flaw, which was used to "create a piece of hardware" the FBI used to access the phone via its passcode. The hardware in question allowed the FBI to guess the passcode through multiple attempts without erasing the iPhone.
The new information was then used to create a piece of hardware that helped the FBI to crack the iPhone's four-digit personal identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all the data, the individuals said.
The researchers, who typically keep a low profile, specialize in hunting for vulnerabilities in software and then in some cases selling them to the U.S. government. They were paid a one-time flat fee for the solution.
The method the FBI allegedly used to break into the iPhone is similar in description to the tool that it had requested from Apple. Before finding an alternate way into the iPhone, the FBI had demanded Apple create a new version of iOS that would disable the passcode security features built into the operating system.
Apple was ordered to give the FBI software to disable the erase feature that would have wiped the iPhone after 10 incorrect guesses, eliminate the time added between entry attempts after the wrong passcode was entered, and create a way for the FBI to enter passcodes into the device electronically instead of manually.
The FBI did not need the services of Cellebrite "in this case," according to The Washington Post's sources, despite evidence the FBI signed a $15,000 contract with Cellebrite on March 21, the same day the Justice Department asked the court to postpone its imminent hearing with Apple. The tool acquired from the hackers did end up letting the FBI access the phone, leading the case against Apple to be dropped.
The U.S. government has not decided whether the method used to break into the iPhone will be shared with Apple, but FBI director James Comey has said the tool used to access the iPhone only works on a "narrow slice of phones" that does not include the iPhone 5s and later. Apple does not plan to sue to obtain the information.
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.
Logitech today announced plans to acquire popular earbud company Jaybird, in a deal that will cost Logitech $50 million in cash. Jaybird will join Logitech as its second audio-focused company after Logitech brought Ultimate Ears under its umbrella back in 2008.
According to Logitech, it purchased Jaybird to bolster its foothold in the mobile device and earbud markets. Jaybird makes Bluetooth-enabled wireless earbuds like the X2, its most recent product, and the company also has a fitness tracker called Reign. Wireless earbuds may be set to explode in popularity with the launch of the iPhone 7, as rumors suggest Apple will be doing away with the headphone jack on the device.
We bet big on a shift to wireless and this shift has happened big time. As we pursued this bet, we retreated to home base with our existing wearable business - the custom business for professional touring musicians - but all the while we nurtured desires to grow beyond our thriving but niche UE PRO business.
What's Jaybird got to do with all this? Well, not all music gets to be shared out loud! We see it all around us everyday - people love to listen to music everywhere and sometimes in places where listening out loud would just not work. Jaybird hit on a great idea of making products for people actively engaged in sports and who wanted music to power their passion for their sport. With the right product (and Jaybird makes them), you can now pursue your sport with your music. It's a potent combination.
Like with Ultimate Ears, Jaybird will operate under the Logitech brand, continuing to sell Jaybird-branded products like the X2. In a statement, Jaybird CEO Judd Armstrong said Jaybird plans to continue to innovate and introduce new products, but will "benefit from Logitech's global distribution network and deep engineering progress." The acquisition is expected to close "in the coming weeks."
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today announced the launch of the USB Type-C Authentication specification, a software protocol that will serve as a line of defense protecting USB-C products from non-compliant USB-C cables that are potentially able to damage a device.
With the USB Type-C Authentication specification, computers and other devices with USB-C ports will be able to confirm the authenticity of a USB device or USB charger, verifying elements like certification status and power flow, along with ensuring no malware is present.
Using this protocol, host systems can confirm the authenticity of a USB device or USB charger, including such product aspects as the descriptors/capabilities and certification status. All of this happens right at the moment a wired connection is made - before inappropriate power or data can be transferred.
USB Type-C Authentication empowers host systems to protect against non-compliant USB Chargers and to mitigate risks from maliciously embedded hardware or software in USB devices attempting to exploit a USB connection
The USB Type-C Authentication specification comes after some non-compliant USB-C cables were able to damage electronic devices. Google engineer Benson Leung spent weeks testing USB-C cables sold by Amazon after a third-party cable he bought destroyed his Chromebook Pixel, making it his mission to highlight the risks of non-compliant cables.
Leung's work led Amazon to ban third-party retailers from offering USB-C cables that do not adhere to the standard specifications issued by the USB-IF, and it's also led to the creation of the protections announced today.
Key characteristics of the USB Type-CTM Authentication solution include:
- A standard protocol for authenticating certified USB Type-CTM Chargers, devices, cables and power sources - Support for authenticating over either USB data bus or USB Power Delivery communications channels - Products that use the authentication protocol retain control over the security policies to be implemented and enforced - Relies on 128-bit security for all cryptographic methods - Specification references existing internationally-accepted cryptographic methods for certificate format, digital signing, hash and random number generation
Apple began using USB-C with the Retina MacBook, choosing the standard because it allows both data and power transfer through a single connector. USB-C is appealing for its universality, but because USB-C cables can transfer more power than traditional USB connectors, non-compliant or faulty equipment can damage electronic devices by providing too much power.
The Retina MacBook already has safeguards built in to protect it from non-compliant cables, but the new USB Type-C Authentication feature will offer another layer of protection should Apple choose to implement it. Current machines will only charge from third-party USB-C power adapters if they comply with the USB Power Delivery specification, and if too much power is detected, the USB-C ports on the MacBook will shut down.
While the Retina MacBook is the only product that currently offers USB-C functionality, Apple may choose to offer USB-C ports in additional machines in upcoming updates scheduled to take place across 2016.
Teen interest in Apple's iPhone continues to grow, according to data gathered by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in the latest semiannual teen survey. 69 percent of teens surveyed own iPhones, up from 67 percent in the Fall 2015 survey. 75 percent of teens queried expect their next device to be an iPhone, up one percent from the previous survey.
Smart watches are not as popular among teens as smartphones, and only 12 percent of those surveyed owned a smart watch. With teen smart watch owners, the Apple Watch was the model most often chosen -- of the 12 percent of teens who own a smart watch, 71 percent are Apple Watches. Just 10 percent of teens say they're interested in purchasing a smart watch, a number that's grown just two percent since fall of 2015.
We would expect the Apple Watch to maintain market share close to that of iPhone, but don't expect major changes in interest until stronger use cases emerge. We continue to view CY17 as the potential breakout year for Apple Watch.
When considering the full range of wearables, the Fitbit was the most preferred brand among teens, with 72 percent surveyed choosing the Fitbit. Nike came in second at 12 percent, and interest in the Apple Watch was at six percent. Wearables are growing in popularity, with 22 percent of females and 18 percent of males surveyed owning a fitness tracker, up from 14 and 12 percent, respectively, in the previous survey.
Tablet interest and ownership among teens in Munster's annual survey has been steadily declining. 59 percent of teens own a tablet, down from 61 percent, and just 13 percent of teens who do not own a tablet plan to buy one in the next six months. Still, the iPad remains the most popular tablet among teens. Of those who own a tablet, 64 percent have an iPad.
Interest in the iPad has grown among teens who plan to buy a tablet, however, which may be attributed to the launch of Apple's 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros. When surveyed, 63 percent of the 13 percent of non-tablet owners planning to buy one said they would choose an iPad, up from 58 percent in the fall.
iPhone adoption among teens may see growth in the fall, with the release of the iPhone 7, a major upgrade that's expected to bring significant new features like a dual camera on the Plus model and minor design refinements. Apple Watch growth may remain stagnant, as recent rumors have suggested the second-generation update will be relatively minor in scale. Interest in the iPad may see a continuing decline as Apple does not have any significant product changes in the works, having just released the iPad Pro models in late 2015 and early 2016.
As was rumored last week, Facebook today announced plans to bring chatbot support to its Messenger platform. At the Facebook F8 Developer Conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated a Messenger chatbot on stage, using the Messenger platform to order flowers from 1-800-Flowers through a text conversation.
"To order from 1-800-Flowers, you never have to call 1-800-Flowers again," said Zuckerberg, explaining that Facebook chatbots are designed to allow users and businesses to connect together in new ways. "You don't have to install an app or enter your credit card."
Developers will be able to build chat programs to interface with users. These will range from product-based companies like 1-800-Flowers to news companies like CNN, another one of Facebook's partners.
Facebook also plans to expand its Live Video feature, which has proven popular with users and public figures. According to Zuckerberg, Live Videos on Facebook garner 10 times more comments than standard videos, which is one of the reasons Facebook recently began rolling out a prominent video tab in the Facebook app to allow users to quickly access live videos from friends and other people.
Starting today, Facebook is opening up its Live Video API, allowing the feature to be built into any device. One of Facebook's early launch partners is drone company DJI, and drone live streaming video was shown on stage.
Over the next five years, Zuckerberg says Messenger Platform and Live Video will be built up over the next five years, and over the next 10 years, Facebook will focus on connectivity, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality.
Other features announced today include Facebook Accounts and a Save button for developers. Facebook Accounts will allow users to use Facebook's sign in feature for apps and services with just a phone number, eliminating the need to remember a username and password. With Accounts, a sign in code is texted to a user, with the code replacing a password. The Save feature will let users save content on websites with a built-in Facebook Save button to their Facebook feeds for accessing it later.
DisplayMate has performed in-depth testing of the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro and determined that its IPS LCD display is a "truly impressive top performing display" and a "major upgrade" over the iPad Air 2.
While both tablets have similar tech specs, including matching 4:3 aspect ratios, 2,048×1536 pixel resolutions, and 264 PPI, Apple has made several underlying improvements to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro that qualified it as DisplayMate's "best performing mobile LCD display" it has ever tested.
Specifically, the exhaustive display shootout found the 9.7-inch iPad Pro to have two color gamuts that deliver "color accuracy that is visually indistinguishable from perfect" and "very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV" that most people own.
The tablet uses a "new DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut that is used in 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema," in addition to the sRGB/Rec.709 gamut, described as "the color standard for most content" that is "needed for accurate color reproduction," that all previous iPhones and iPads have used.
DisplayMate also determined that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro display is "more than 20 percent brighter than the other current iPads" and the "brightest full size production tablet" that it has ever tested. The tablet's brightness measures 511 cd/m2 (nits), compared to 415 nits for the iPad Air 2.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro also has "by far the lowest low screen reflectance of any mobile display," meaning that its image colors and contrast in high ambient light -- such as sunlight -- will "appear considerably better than any other mobile display." The tablet uses a new anti-reflectance coating that reduces its reflectance to just 1.7 percent, compared to the iPad Air 2's reflectance of 2.5 percent. The difference can amount to longer battery life in real-life usage.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro earned high marks for its contrast ratio of 1,022, described as "very good" for a mobile display, and almost identical to the iPad Air 2. However, its ratio was slightly lower than the record 1,631 for the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Similarly, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's contrast rating in high ambient light is 301, by far the highest that DisplayMate has ever measured, and topping the iPad Air 2's rating of 166.
The tablet was found to have "excellent viewing angle performance" with "no visually noticeable color shifts," recording a 47 to 55 percent decrease in brightness at a "modest 30 degree viewing angle," which DisplayMate said is slightly better than the iPad Air 2 and all other iPads. Meanwhile, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and iPad Air 2 had the same overall power efficiency.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro's display also outperformed its larger 12.9-inch sibling in virtually every category:
The display on the new iPad Pro 9.7 outperforms the iPad Pro 12.9 in every single display performance category except (obviously) size, and then just its Black Luminance, which results in a higher Contrast Ratio in the dark. The iPad Pro 12.9 is still a very good display, it’s just that the iPad Pro 9.7 is so much better than anything else.
DisplayMate speculates that Apple could adopt several of these improved display technologies on the iPhone 7:
Since Apple likes to expand new technology across its product lines, an educated guess for the upcoming iPhone 7 is that its display could be a small version of the iPad Pro 9.7. Improvements could include adding the new DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut and also adding an Anti-Reflection coating that could lower the screen Reflectance from the current iPhone 4.6 percent down to 1.7 percent (a factor of almost 3 improvement). Both of these would also improve the iPhone screen performance and readability in high ambient light. True Tone could be added if Apple upgrades the Ambient Light sensors so they measure Color in addition to Brightness.
Earlier this morning, HTC announced its new smartphone, the HTC 10, revealing that the Android device will have the ability to wirelessly play audio through devices and speakers that support streaming via Apple's AirPlay feature (via SlashGear). In addition to AirPlay support, the basic specs of the phone include a 5.2-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 3,000 mAh battery for two full days of charge, and a USB Type-C port.
The addition of support for AirPlay makes the HTC 10 the first Android smartphone to work with Apple's audio and video streaming feature out of the box. AirPlay's inclusion into the HTC 10 also means that the Android device will be able to stream directly to the new Apple TV.
The move is a deliberate one by HTC, according to Darren Sng, vice president of product marketing for the company, as it plans to make its smartphones as feature rich as possible, even if it means support for third-party software. The company would even be open to including Apple Pay in its devices, if Apple ever opened up the mobile payments service to other manufacturers.
"We are platform agnostic," Darren Sng, vice president of product marketing, says of the company's ambitions. That extends beyond just streaming standards, too: if Apple made Apple Pay available to third-party manufacturers, or Samsung did the same with Samsung Pay, the exec says, HTC would jump at the opportunity.
"You wouldn't want credit card companies to determine what you can put in your wallet," Sng points out, "so why would you want a particular vendor to decide what payment you put in your phone?"
The HTC 10 is the company's flagship smartphone for 2016, coming on the heels of last year's HTC One M9 device. Anyone interested will be able to purchase the HTC 10 in May for an unlocked price of $699, and various, undisclosed carrier prices. The phone can be pre-ordered from HTC's website today, and in the United States users will be able to choose from black and silver color options, while other markets will include a third alternative of gold.
Audio device manufacturer JBL recently announced the Reflect Aware C headphones, which will give users noise-canceling abilities without the need of a separate battery pack, thanks to its USB-C connector (via The Verge). Using the new input, the headphones draw both power and audio from a USB-C port, like the one on Apple's 12-inch MacBook or the just-announced HTC 10 smartphone.
The Reflect Aware C headphones were built for activity-focused users, coming with sweatproof and ergonomic in-ear tips to keep them from falling out while running or working out. The selling feature of the device -- the ability to mute extraneous sound -- can be scrubbed through various noise-canceling levels to hear less or more outside sound. The toggle switch that controls this setting also houses a microphone for phone calls and music playback/volume control.
Although USB-C has yet to take off, even within the stable of Apple products, JBL's product is a telling step forward for companies looking to move past the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, which has been a steady topic of conversation since last year. On the smartphone side of things, the Reflect Aware C will be able to be used with devices like the new HTC 10 smartphone, which launches in May and houses a USB-C port as its main charging solution.
JBL is staying tight-lipped about availability and pricing on the new noise-canceling headphones, but some information can be gleaned from another product in its lineup. The similarly-titled Reflect Aware headphones, announced at CES, will pack all of the USB-C version of the product's features, but trade-off that output for an Apple ecosystem-friendly Lightning connector.
Get the most out of your exercises by filtering what gets in. The new JBL Reflect Aware™ sport earphones delivers both best in class noise cancelation and the ability to mix in sound from your environment for greater awareness of your surroundings when you want it, making it the most versatile sport headphone on the market.
Designed for sport with a unique reflective design, the JBL Reflect Aware™ earphones, feature legendary JBL sound and an ergonomic fit design that keeps the earpieces in place regardless of the intensity of your workout routine. Sweatproof and available in blue, black, red, teal, the JBL Reflect Aware™ earphones require no battery because they draw power and digital audio directly from the lightning connector on Apple devices.
The move could perhaps fill in a gap of noise-canceling headphones for this year's main-line iPhone release, as recent rumors predict that first-party, Lightning-connected and dynamic noise-canceling headphones will launch with the 2017 "iPhone 7s." This year's iPhone 7 would simply adopt Lightning-connected earpods without the inclusion of noise-canceling technology.
The Reflect Aware in-ear headphones will cost $159.95 and the first round of orders begin shipping on June 19 in Blue, Black, Teal, and Red. Although unconfirmed by JBL, the Reflect Aware C will most likely be priced at a similar point -- thanks to a laundry list of mirroring features -- but the release date could be shifted.
The first episode of the long-awaited season six of HBO series Game of Thrones premiered in Los Angeles over the weekend, and Siri is now giving cheeky responses to users who ask the personal assistant whether one of its principal characters, Jon Snow, has truly left this mortal coil.
Asking Siri, 'Is Jon Snow dead?' returns a number of possible responses, including:
Well, you know what they say to Death… Not today! But why would tomorrow be any better? Anyway, I'm not exactly sure.
'Dead is dead'. Or is it 'What's dead may never die'? No, wait, 'Death is so terribly final'? I give up.
I don't know. I just hope someone is setting up doggie daycare for Ghost.
Game of Thrones fans can also bide their time waiting for the new season to hit TV screens by asking Siri 'Is winter coming?', to which the response 'Hodor!' may or may not be forthcoming.
Previous seasons of the hugely popular Game of Thrones series are available to watch via the HBO GO app for those with a subscription. HBO GO is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Siri is expected to make its long-anticipated debut on Mac in OS X 10.12 later this year.
The BBC today unveiled the iPlayer Kids app for iOS, which allows children to safely access CBeebies and CBBC shows directly.
The family-friendly app offers access to over 10,000 shows and enables up to four profiles to be created on one device for the delivery of specialized content to each child.
Parents and guardians can create a profile for children by selecting an age and a character avatar to identify the child's account, after which specific programs for pre-schoolers or over-fives can be viewed.
Episodes can be downloaded over Wi-Fi to be watched away from the home, and shows are available to stream or download for up to 30 days each.
Alice Webb, director of BBC Children's, announced the app as a standalone solution apart from the BBC iPlayer app that caters exclusively for kids and keeps them safe from unsuitable content:
The BBC iPlayer Kids app meets the needs we know are absolute deal breakers for kids and parents. We’re offering choice and control, wrapped up in a child-friendly design and the largest range of home-grown UK content on a platform parents can trust.
The BBC app is both ad and in-app purchase free, and includes a parental control function that locks the app during use so children are unable to access any BBC links, other apps, or settings.
The BBC iPlayer Kids app is a free download on the UK App Store and available for iPhone and iPad. [Direct link]
A long-standing bug in Game Center that renders many games unplayable has reportedly been resolved in the latest public beta of iOS 9.3.2.
Game Center for iOS is a necessary component of many turn-based multiplayer App Store titles, which rely on Apple's social gaming network to enable gamers to invite friends, start multiplayer matches, and compete for high scores.
The bug, which first appeared in iOS 8, affects many popular games of the sort and involves the Game Center app launching as a white screen, crashing games to a white screen, and/or the Settings app freezing when Game Center's options are selected.
TouchArcade forum member and journalist Craig Grannell's video of the bug in action.
MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, which has a thread in its forums discussing the bug spanning over 75 pages, now notes that the 'white screen of death' bug appears to have been resolved, although given the long-standing nature of the problem, gamers remain understandably wary.
Well, community members of ours who are brave enough to install beta iOS system updates have reported that Game Center is once again working for them in the iOS 9.3.2 beta. Now, before getting too excited, it's important to have a hefty dose of realism with all this: The Game Center bug is a vicious beast, and many people on our forums have thought they slayed it, only to have it return inside of a couple days. I'm cautiously optimistic, but by no means ready to strike up the band and declare the Game Center bug fixed.
The latest posts on the forum thread suggest that Apple's latest beta has resolved the problem for many affected users, although claims of official confirmation from Apple that the bug is fixed remain unsubstantiated.
Apple released the first beta of its upcoming iOS 9.3.2 update to public testers last Thursday, just a day after seeding the beta to developers.
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 9.3.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.
Facebook Messenger for iOS is gaining native Dropbox integration for the first time, allowing users to share any file stored in their Dropbox account without having to leave the app.
Tapping the More button in the popular messenger app now displays Dropbox as an available source. So long as the Dropbox app is installed on the device and an account is linked to it, users can share photos, videos and other files stored in the file hosting service directly in their conversations.
Videos and images – including animated GIFs – are displayed directly in conversations. Everything else can be viewed by recipients by tapping an Open button which brings them to either the Dropbox app or an associated web location, where they can preview and save files instantly.
In an additional feature, users of Messenger video chat now have the option of viewing a small 'chat head' in the corner of their screen during conversations, rather than video feeds occupying the entire screen, allowing users to continue messaging other people as they talk.
Both features are being rolled out to all Messenger users in the next few days. Facebook Messenger is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
Today, we received notice that our new update with a lot of great new features was rejected under the App Store rule 18.2: “Your app contains a mechanism to enable or disable Not Safe For Work (NSFW) content, including pornographic content. Apps with sexually explicit content are not appropriate for the App Store.” About 15 minutes afterwards, we received notice that the current version of our app has been removed from the app store.
While the third-party apps were pulled from the App Store, Reddit's new official app has remained. When Reddit launched its new app, it said users were "free to continue enjoying" the third-party app of their choice and pledged to continue support for its public API.
Harrison told MacStories that he reached out to Reddit about the takedowns and was told that the company did not request that third-party apps be pulled. In fact, Reddit told Harrison that the company was also having issues with Apple over clause 18.2.
Specifically, clause 18.2 states that apps containing user-generated content that is "frequently pornographic" would be rejected. Many of the pulled third-party apps have been in the App Store for about a year, and some of them include NSFW filters that allow users to disable potentially pornographic content.
In the past, Apple has also pulled apps for featuring user-generated content that could be viewed as pornographic. In 2013, Apple pulled 500px's photo sharing app due to concerns that users could search for nude photographs. The app was eventually returned to the App Store once it added an age-gate.
Update 6:24 AM: As noted by iMore, a number of the removed apps are returning to the App Store after their developers removed NSFW toggles from the apps. Rather than an app-based toggle, apps are now required to rely on the user's Reddit preferences for filtering out NSFW content.
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Popular third-party Reddit apps like Narwhal, iAlien, Baconreader, Eggplant and Antenna have been pulled from the App Store for breaching clause 
