MacRumors

After more than two months of availability, Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is now installed on 63 percent of iOS, according to new numbers posted on Apple's App Store support page for developers.

iOS 8's installation numbers have increased approximately seven percent over the course of the last month, and installation numbers are up 11 percent since October 27. iOS 7 usage, meanwhile, has dropped from 43 percent in October to 33 percent as of December 8.

Apple's own iOS 8 adoption estimates are based on App Store usage and are mirrored closely by data from analytics service MixPanel, which puts iOS 8 adoption at 63.94 percent as of today.

The number of users installing iOS 8 initially stagnated at 47 percent just three weeks after the software was first released to the public, but installation numbers have been climbing steadily since then due to a number of bug fixes and an email campaign from Apple encouraging users to upgrade.

iOS 8's low adoption rates were likely due to several major bugs the software faced in its early days and a lack of space on 16GB devices for installing the OS. Apple's recent email campaign attempted to alleviate the latter issue, informing users with little space on their devices that they could upgrade through iTunes.

iOS 8.1, iOS 8.1.1, and iOS 8.1.2, introduced today, all brought bug fixes for several major issues, repairing problems and improving the stability of iOS 8. Apple is also working on iOS 8.2, which is expected to bring additional bug fixes and has been seeded to developers for testing purposes.

Just over two weeks ago, hackers attacked Sony Pictures, acquiring up to 100 terabytes of data that included huge amounts of sensitive information like emails, Social Security numbers, films, scripts, and more.

Data from the hack has been leaking out for the last several days, and as of today, new emails have been found discussing the Steve Jobs biopic that Sony was producing before it sold the film to Universal Studios.

According to leaked data shared by Ars Technica, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who penned the script from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography, originally had his eye on Tom Cruise to play Steve Jobs. An email from October 31 suggested Sorkin was campaigning heavily for Tom Cruise, while director Danny Boyle was concerned about the actor's age.

His emails also divulged a few details about the scenes, which cover three different Jobs product launches, suggesting Tom Cruise, at 52 is the right age for third act, while Seth Rogen, aged 32, would be the right age for the first act as Steve Wozniak.

I just got off the phone with Danny who's concerned about the age but I think I got him thinking about it and he's going to look at some scenes from Lions for Lambs where Tom's basically auditioning for Jobs. He's also concerned that the choice will be met with derision because it's such a commercial choice but I honestly think that ends up working for us. Tom's going to surprise some people and they'll want to reward that. I don't think we'd have to recast Woz. Seth's the right age in the first act and Tom's the right age in the third. And the movie announces itself pretty quickly as not being literal---as being a painting rather than a photograph. Look, I wouldn't cast Clint Eastwood but if I saw Tom Cruise flying around the backstage corridors of Symphony Hall I wouldn't think he was too old. I think it would be dazzling performance.

Ultimately, director Danny Boyle dug in his heels and insisted on Michael Fassbender over Tom Cruise, with an email response to Sorkin suggesting Boyle "seemed committed" to Fassbender. Sorkin was not initially thrilled with the decision, but opted to accept Boyle's choice.

Sorkin replied, "This used to be an event. I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care. This is insane." But in the exchange that followed, he wrote, "F*** it. He's a great actor whose time has come."

It's known that Sony Pictures had difficulty casting the role of Jobs, as Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale were both briefly tied to the film before dropping out, but the emails also suggest that Tobey Maguire and Matthew McConaughey inquired about playing Steve Jobs before the role went to Fassbender. Tom Hanks was also reportedly interested in taking on the role of John Sculley, which is rumored to be going to Jeff Daniels.

Boyle's decision to stick with X-Men actor Michael Fassebender ultimately led to Sony's decision to drop the Steve Jobs biopic after executives struggled to secure financing for the film with Fassbender in the lead role. Boyle and producer Scott Rudin went on to ink a deal with Universal to take over the film.

Apple CEO Tim Cook met with civil rights activist Jesse Jackson on Monday, reports USA Today. Though Jackson declined to comment on what he and Cook discussed, Jackson is currently in the Bay Area for his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which is hosting a workshop at Intel on racial diversity at technology companies.

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a non-profit organization that champions social justice, civil rights, and political activism, and recently, it has been targeting tech companies for not employing more women and minorities. At its Silicon Valley meeting, taking place on December 10, the Coalition is expected to discuss ways tech companies can improve diversity in the workplace.

The Coalition, alongside Jackson, will also hold a rally with labor leaders and service workers outside Apple's headquarters in Cupertino to highlight the growing wealth gap in Silicon Valley.

Speaking about the meeting with Tim Cook, Jackson said that he and the Apple CEO discussed "a range of subjects" for approximately one hour, and that the meeting was "positive and productive."

"I am impressed with him and the conversation," Jackson said in an interview on Tuesday. "He has a real vision for Apple and he sees the value in inclusiveness."

Diversity and equality have been an important topics for Tim Cook as of late, as the Apple CEO recently came out as gay. In the letter declaring his sexuality, Cook told the world that Apple will continue to take a strong stand on furthering workplace equality. An August diversity report revealed that 7 out of 10 Apple employees around the globe are male, and Apple's U.S. workforce consists of 55 percent white employees, 15 percent Asian, 11 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent Black.

At the time, Tim Cook said that he was unhappy with Apple's diversity numbers and promised to improve them.

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

Apple today released iOS 8.1.2 to the public, introducing bug fixes and addressing an issue that caused ringtones purchased through the iTunes Store to be removed from an iOS device. Apple advises users who have lost ringtones to restore them by visiting itunes.com/restore-tones from their iOS devices.

iOS 8.1.2, carrying a build number of 12B440, was not seeded to developers before being released to the public. The software is available immediately as an over-the-air-download.

Like iOS 8.1.1, released on November 17, iOS 8.1.2 is a minor update that focuses solely on bug fixes. It does not bundle in any of the major new features that are rumored for iOS 8, like improvements to Maps and split-screen multitasking for the iPad. Apple is also working on iOS 8.2 with the WatchKit SDK, which was seeded to developers in mid-November.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, presiding over Apple's iPod/iTunes lawsuit that began last week, has disqualified the last plaintiff in the case and judged that the trial will continue while lawyers scramble to find a replacement, reports Associated Press.

That last plaintiff, Marianna Rosen, was disqualified by Judge Rogers after Apple successfully proved that the devices Rosen bought were either not from the timeframe covered by the lawsuit or were purchased using a credit card issued to her husband's business.

With all plaintiffs now removed from the case, Apple has attempted to have the case dismissed, claiming it is too late to name a new plaintiff. The original plaintiff's attorneys were given a deadline of today to name a new lead plaintiff, but The Wall Street Journal's Jeff Elder reports the judge is conferring with attorneys for both sides this morning to discuss a possible two-day delay in the trial while the situation is addressed.

According to the AP's account of the proceedings that saw the case lose its last plaintiff, Judge Rogers "scolded" Rosen and her attorneys and called Rosen's purchases "inadequate," showing impatience at having spent a week sifting through irrelevant testimony.

"I am troubled," the judge said, citing Rosen's failure to adequately account for her iPod purchases and "the failure of plaintiffs' counsel themselves to investigate sufficiently." But the judge said she has an obligation to the "millions of absent class members" to let the case continue if another lead plaintiff can be identified.

Two other plaintiffs withdrew from the case when their purchased iPods also inadequately aligned with the devices included in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs' attorney Bonny Sweeney claims many more possible plaintiffs are lining up after reading about the story making headlines last week, telling Judge Rogers that "there are plaintiffs who stand willing and ready to step in and we will have them in court tomorrow." Apple's lawyers will be given the names of the possible volunteers and judge whether or not they are eligible.

The case has been making waves since it began last week, with several Apple executives voicing their positions on the issue, a video deposition of the late Steve Jobs being shown in court last Friday, and today's news that major media outlets are seeking to broadcast Jobs' deposition to the public.

As noted by Re/code, YouTube today updated its app for the Apple TV, improving its appearance and expanding the content available to stream. With this update, the Apple TV version catches up to the Xbox, PlayStation and other similar streaming devices.

Besides a refreshed design, the new YouTube Apple TV update adds features such as personalized recommendations, channel subscriptions and predictive search. It also now supports all YouTube content, including music videos, vlogs and even advertisements.

Apple today added four new channels to its Apple TV set-top box, further expanding the variety of content available on the device. The new additions include ultimate fighting channel UFC.TV, digital video shorts channel The Scene, news and pop culture channel Fusion, and video sharing site Dailymotion.

UFC.TV offers access to a variety of Ultimate Fighting Championship content, including free and paid video. Users can subscribe to the service's Fight Pass premium offering with a 6-month membership priced at $54.99 or a 12-month membership at $99.99. Users can also access archived pay-per-view content, although some pay-per-view content is unavailable in many countries due to regional restrictions.

The Scene offers digital shorts from a variety of Condé Nast media brands and third-party partners, including ABC News, Epicurious, Forbes, GQ, PBS, The New Yorker, The Weather Channel, Vogue, and more. All content is available free of charge.

Fusion is a joint venture between Disney-ABC and Univision, offering a variety of content including news, pop culture, and lifestyle. Finally, Dailymotion offers access to the popular site's library of videos from premium brands and regular users alike.

All four channels are available now, with Apple calling out each of the new channels with a "New" flag on the main screen icons. Country restrictions may, however, limit where some of these new channels can be seen.

Some of the last known video of Steve Jobs, from the deposition tape that was played in court last Friday, may be made public as a group of lawyers representing CNN, Bloomberg, and the Associated Press filed a motion earlier this week to have it released (via CNET).

Up until now, both Apple and the plaintiffs in the case have asked the court to consider the video "regular testimony," which would prevent it from being shown outside the court walls. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has not yet sealed the evidence, however, leaving open the possibility of the video being made publicly available. Representing all three media outlets, attorney Thomas Burke cited public interest as a major argument for releasing the video.

"Given the substantial public interest in the rare posthumous appearance of Steve Jobs in this trial, there simply is no interest that justifies restricting the public's access to his video deposition," attorney Thomas Burke wrote in the filing Monday.

Burke sent an official email request to broadcast the video on Sunday, to which Apple's lead attorney, Bill Isaacson replied, "Apple does not consent to your request. We are preparing a substantive response to your points and will get that to you tonight hopefully."

Jobs' deposition video is acting as evidence in the ongoing lawsuit dating back to 2005 that sees Apple facing accusations of attempting to enforce a monopoly over the iPod and iTunes by shutting out competing services.

In the video, Jobs echoed much of the same sentiment Apple has expressed in the case so far, stating that "We had pretty much black and white contracts with the labels," and that preventing the iPod from playing music from competing music services was "collateral damage."

Apple has yet to comment on the attempt to make the video public since Isaacson's initial response. According to the plaintiff's lawyers in the iPod case, whether or not the deposition video is released to the public is entirely up to Apple.

Apple announced on Tuesday that it will be opening a new research and development center in Japan, reports The Wall Street Journal. The announcement followed a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who revealed earlier today that Apple was eyeing Japan for its research expansion.

Abe relayed the information about Apple while campaigning in Tokyo, stating that Apple planned to "conduct the most advanced research and development in Japan." Abe went on to describe the facility as being "among the largest in Asia." Apple confirmed these R&D plans in a statement released to the media.

"We’re excited to expand our operations in Japan with a new technical development center in Yokohama which will create dozens of new jobs," Apple said in a statement.

Apple did not reveal on how it will use the future Yokohama site or how much it is investing in the facility. The operation will join other research and development centers Apple operates in China, Taiwan, Israel and other overseas locations. The company reportedly also is opening a new research center in Cambridge, England within the coming weeks.

Update 12/10/14: Though Apple has not disclosed the focus of its Japan-based research and development center, Nikkei reports that it will "center around health." The building is located in an economic zone designated as a hub for life sciences and environmental technology, and Apple is sponsoring research on blood pressure and blood sugar conducted in Yokohama.

In March 2013, Apple introduced two-factor authentication to provide additional security for Apple IDs. It expanded the feature to several new countries earlier this year and introduced it to the company's iCloud.com website this September. This was after CEO Tim Cook promised to broaden use of its two-factor authentication system in the wake of a hacking incident that saw several celebrities' iCloud accounts hacked.

The system requires a user to have a second "trusted" device that is used to verify a user's identity in addition to an extra security code called the "Recovery Key". However, in a new account from The Next Web's Owen Williams, that Recovery Key also has the potential to completely lock a person out of their account if they're being hacked.

Williams found that someone had tried to hack his iCloud account. Apple's two-factor system kicked in and locked the account, denying entry to the would-be hacker while also denying entry to Williams. When he went to iForgot, Apple's account recovery service, he assumed two of his password, Recovery Key or trusted device would unlock his account, as he was led to believe by an Apple Support document.

When I headed to the account recovery service, dubbed iForgot, I discovered that there was no way back in without my recovery key. That’s when it hit me; I had no idea where my recovery key was or if I’d ever even put the piece of paper in a safe place. I’ve moved since I set up two-factor on iCloud.

Williams contends he took a screenshot of the Recovery Key and printed that out as well as taking a photo on his iPhone to keep as a backup, but could not locate either and was on the verge of losing his "digital life". He called Apple customer support and was told  that he had forfeited his Apple ID by losing his Recovery Key and that there was no way Apple could help him. He called back a second time.

When she got back on the line, the story was just as bleak. “We take your security very seriously at Apple” she told me “but at this time we cannot grant you access back into your Apple account. We recommend you create a new Apple ID.”

After a couple more days of talking to Apple customer support and even friends who worked at Apple, he continued to receive same responses: he was locked out of his account due to someone trying to hack into it and couldn't unlock it without a Recovery Key even though Apple's support document says it's possible with a trusted device. Eventually, Williams located his Recovery Key in what he calls the "depths" of his Time Machine backup, allowing him to finally unlock his account.

Williams concludes with a warning that anyone with two-factor authentication should take far greater care in protecting and remembering where they store their Recovery Keys, as losing it could permanently lock a user out of their Apple ID with Apple unable to do anything to help. The entire account, which is a fascinating and worthwhile read, can be read at The Next Web.