MacRumors

FilevaultUsers looking to exploit a vulnerability in the Sudo Unix command, originally reported back in March, have received some assistance, reports Ars Technica.

The developers of Metasploit, software that makes it easier to misuse vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications, have added the Sudo vulnerability to their software suite. All versions of OS X from OS X Lion 10.7 through the current Mountain Lion 10.8.4 remain vulnerable.

Mac users should realize that an attacker must satisfy a variety of conditions before being able to exploit this vulnerability. For one, the end-user who is logged in must already have administrator privileges. And for another, the user must have successfully run sudo at least once in the past. And of course, the attacker must already have either physical or remote shell access to the target machine. In other words: this exploit can't be used in the kind of drive-by webpage attacks that last year infected some 650,000 Macs with the Flashback malware. This doesn't mean it's a non-issue though, since the exploit can be used in concert with other attacks to magnify the damage they can do.

Most of the recent exploits in Mac OS X have been related to Java, which Apple completely blocked earlier this year over security vulnerabilities, though Apple did release a standalone malware removal tool to help clean machines that were affected by a number of Java vulnerabilities.

OS X has been targeted more in recent years as it has gained in popularity. The Janicab.A malware was discovered last month, while another program called macs.app was discovered in May. That app captured and stored screenshots.

T-Mobile has implemented vacation blackout dates between September 20 and 22, reports TmoNews, potentially confirming a prospective September 20 release date for the iPhone 5S and 5C that was first leaked earlier this month by Japanese business newspaper Nikkei.

During the blackout period, employees will be unable to take vacation time to ensure that T-Mobile has adequate staff on hand for a large release event. Similar blackouts have been instituted for the launch of previous iPhone models and other high-profile products.

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While MacRumors has heard reports of a September 20 blackout date for T-Mobile employees, reports from AT&T and Verizon employees have been conflicting, with some citing an October blackout period. Blackout dates are occasionally instituted for a broad range of dates and then narrowed down as a release date approaches and can also be subject to change based on Apple's exact event plans.

Apple's iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are both expected to be revealed at a September 10 event that has been confirmed by multiple sources, which makes September 20 a likely candidate for release as Apple typically launches its new phones in the United States and other markets approximately a week and a half after they are announced.

Last year, Apple announced the iPhone 5 at a media event on September 12, launching the phone several days later on September 21 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

Related Forum: iPhone

NewImageESPN has added two new channels to its WatchESPN apps on the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, according to an ESPN press release.

ESPN today officially launched the availability of ESPN Deportes and ESPNEWS on WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the award-winning WatchESPN app and on Apple TV to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider (coming soon to ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members). The launch debuts just in time for the second leg of Spain’s Supercopa Final between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid live on ESPN Deportes at 5 p.m. ET tonight.

The channels are available to authenticated pay TV subscribers with the following cable companies:

- AT&T U-verse
- Bright House Networks
- Charter
- Comcast XFINITY
- Cox
- Midcontinent Communications
- Optimum
- Time Warner Cable
- Verizon FiOS TV

WatchESPN is a free download on the iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

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

Twitter has updated its iOS app to version 5.10, redesigning the look of Conversations within the app. As noted in the App Store description, conversations are easier to find, indicated with a vertical blue line in the Twitter timeline.

The original tweet of a conversation will now show up above the most recent reply, and a tap will reveal the entire conversation thread. The app has also been updated with new notification settings and bug fixes for direct messages.

Conversations have a new look! They're easier to find and fun to join.

- A blue line indicates a conversation between people you follow
- The first Tweet in the conversation now appears above the most recent reply
- Tap to see all of the replies

Twitter is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

applecare plus iconApple is planning on launching its AppleCare+ extended warranty service in Europe soon, according to a report from the French blog iGen [Google Translate].

Apple launched the $99 AppleCare+ for iPhone in the U.S. in 2011, offering two years of extended warranty protection and coverage for two incidents related to accidental damage, albeit with a $49 service fee. The program was later expanded to the iPad. AppleCare+ is also available in Canada and Japan.

In Europe, customers have been limited to the standard AppleCare for iPhone and iPad products, which only covers warranty-related claims -- not accidental damage.

Apple has faced significant criticism from consumer associations in a number of European countries including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Portugal. EU consumer protection laws are more stringent than those in the United States, and Apple has been sued because of allegedly misleading statements given by Apple on its websites and in its retail stores regarding the differences between warranties required by law and what Apple offers in its AppleCare service plans.

Logitech today debuted a new slim touch-enabled mouse for Mac users, crafted to match the design of Apple's MacBooks. The brushed aluminum mouse, which is similar to Apple’s Magic Mouse, supports seven different touch gestures and is designed to be ultra portable.

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The mouse is recharged via USB and according to Logitech, one minute of charge time provides one hour of working time. It also uses Logitech's Easy-Switch Bluetooth and can connect to a laptop, desktop, or tablet.

Using Bluetooth® with Logitech Easy-SwitchTM Technology, the Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse can connect wirelessly to your laptop, desktop and tablet at the same time, and you can easily switch among them with the flip of a switch.

The Ultrathin Touch Mouse can be preordered from the Logitech website for $70 and is expected to begin shipping in September.

Apple continues to expand and improve its current plastics division, today posting a new job listing for a Senior Materials Engineer with a specialty in plastics (via 9to5Mac). The position asks for someone experienced with plastics materials to join the iPhone/iPad Materials team.

According to the job notes, Apple is seeking an engineer with 10 or more years in the mold making industry to develop new plastic materials and processes to "meet the structural and aesthetic requirements of a wide range of part designs."

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Prototype of Apple's Upcoming Low-Cost iPhone

Apple is also looking for several other employees with a specialization in plastic, including a Plastic Tooling Engineer and a Manufacturing Design Engineer. Apple originally began seeking a Manufacturing Design Engineer back in January and the position, which remains unfilled, asks candidates to "Identify, develop and launch new tooling and process capabilities in support of new Apple product developments."

While Apple has focused heavily on aluminum for the iPad, the iPhone, and the MacBook line for the last several years, the company continues to use plastics in products like the Apple TV, the AirPort Extreme, and other accessories.

Most notably, Apple's upcoming low-cost iPhone features a colorful polycarbonate shell, the first plastic-shelled mobile product Apple has produced since the iPhone 3GS.

Apple does use plastics for internal parts, but multiple job listings focus on the aesthetic use of plastic, which suggests that plastic may be a renewed area of interest for the company and could play a larger role in future Apple products.

John Leake, co-host of the RetroMacCast, has crafted a 1/3 scale miniature replica of the Mac Plus (via Cult of Mac). The computer, which he calls the "Mini Mac", is made from a Raspberry Pi, PVC, and a Linux-based Mac emulator running System 6.

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The mini computer's casing was created from sheets of 3M Sintra PVC plastic, which were shaped with an X-Acto knife and then sanded. The monitor is a 3.5-inch composite LCD panel, held in with two brackets and velcro, and it all runs on a Raspberry Pi. It also includes Wi-Fi, an HDMI port, two USB ports, with a Bluetooth dongle to be added in the future.


Constructing the tiny Mac required Leake to cut the SD card, trim the USB cable, and solder wires to bypass the power connector. Leake has a detailed description of how he built the computer on his blog, and during a podcast, he mentions that it took him 12 hours to build. If he produces more Mini Macs in the future, he plans to use a 3D printer.

Disney is working on a dedicated 'Star Wars' channel for the Apple TV according to a questionable report from Jedi News. The site quotes an "unnamed source" who said Disney will launch a new app on the Apple TV in time for the holiday season and the app will stream the final episodes of the animated 'Clone Wars' TV series.

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Our source told us the following:

"A Disney branded app for Star Wars will launch on Apple TV devices, with plans to distribute the final Clone Wars episodes exclusively digitally only through the Apple TV device for a limited period of time. This will happen in this holiday season.

In 2014, plans are in an early stage to use the platform to deliver SW7 production news 'live' from the sets, followed with Star Wars Rebels in late 2014 taking us all the way through to SW7 release."

Jedi News claims only iOS 7-capable Apple TV devices -- the second and third generation units -- will be able to use the new app.

Apple has launched a number of third-party apps on the Apple TV in recent months, including two Disney apps yesterday. Last year, Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the 'Star Wars' franchise.

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

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The London-based luxury concierge service Lime&Tonic has released its first iPhone app, allowing users to browse and purchase recommendations on the go. The app, which was developed in collaboration with Czech-based developers adikt mobile, can help users of the service to personalize any recommendations suggested to them by posing a wide variety of questions, including coffee preference, how users like their steaks cooked and any favorite cocktails.

This information is then fed into Lime&Tonic's algorithm and the application presents users with personalized recommendations in their local cities. These can be purchased straight through the application either using a credit or debit card, or via Lime&Tonic's 'credits' system, which can be managed online. Users can also read reviews of experiences via the application before committing to buying.

Lime&Tonic is currently limited to a few select cities around the world, including London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Dubai however the service is expanding rapidly. The company predicts that three cities will be added by the end of the year, with a further 20 planned by the end of 2014, and in North America, the service plans to launch in New York, Toronto and Vancouver. Lim&Tonic currently has around 850 experiences available globally and claims a 92% user satisfaction rate.

The company's CEO and co-founder, Stefan Cordiner, explains the company's aims going forward:

Our focus in purely on premium merchants that are able to offer quality experiences so we can ensure that if you're going to spend your limited free time with us, it will be good.

Much like Groupon, Lime&Tonic partners with local businesses and takes a cut of all bookings made through its service. The service is completely free to use and can be signed up for via their website or via Facebook.

Lime&Tonic is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

A third-party developer has released a new Mac app that allows control of Philips Hue light bulbs from a menulet in the Mac menu bar. Hue Menu, available on the Mac App Store, uses the Hue API to change the colors, brightness and more of Hue lights.

A year ago, Philips released its Hue iOS-controlled LED light bulbs exclusively on the Apple Store. More recently, the company released new LED 'LightStrips' and an accent lamp called 'Bloom'.

Hue Menu

Hue Menu is a simple and delightful way to control your Philips Hue light bulbs right from your Mac's Menu Bar.

This 3rd party App is the best companion for your Philips Hue light bulbs striking the perfect balance between ease of use and powerful features, making it as delightful to use as the official iOS Apps

Hue Menu is available for $2.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple is the number one target for "patent trolls", with 171 cases total in the last five years, according to PatentFreedom (via Fortune). This puts the company ahead of Hewlett Packard, currently in second place with 137 cases, and Samsung, with 133. Dell, Sony, HTC, and LG all made the top 10 with a combined 1,218 cases between them.

patenttroll
A patent troll, or "non-practicing entity" (NPE) is defined by research firm PatentFreedom as "any entity that earns or plans to earn the majority of its revenue from the licensing or enforcement of its patents".

Michael Brody, an intellectual property specialist at Winston & Strawn, told an audience at Stanford University earlier this week that a patent, "is nothing more or less than a license to sue someone" and claimed that in 2012, more than 4,200 separate companies or individuals were sued by NPEs, with the average licensing cost for cases settled out of court being around $29.75 million.

Since 2004 onwards, the number of lawsuits involving NPEs has risen sharply and PatentFreedom has reported a 1300 percent increase in cases between 2004 and 2013. The site suggests that this may be due to a 100 percent increase in the number of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the same period.

Over the years, Apple has faced litigation from a number of patent-holding companies like Lodsys, which targeted app developers over in-app purchases, and VirnetX, a company that was awarded $368.2 million over VPN connectivity in Facebook in 2012.

Apple faces a new lawsuit filed today by Remote Locator Systems, alleging that Apple's "Find My Friends" and "Find My iPhone" apps violate a patent held by the company.

red_ipod_nano_watchAccording to analyst Wanli Wang at CIMB Securities, as shared by The Economic Times, Taiwan based electronics manufacturers Inventec and Quanta have won contracts to produce Apple’s iWatch. Wang's supply chain sources indicate that Inventec will produce the majority of the iWatch at 60%, while Quanta will handle the remaining portion of production. The report also claims that the iWatch will sell for an average of $199 and projects shipments of 63.4 million units in the year after its launch.

"Apple is likely to introduce 'iWatch' in 2014. From our channel checks, Inventec is the major assembly source for 'iWatch', with about 60 per cent of order allocation," said CIMB Securities analyst Wanli Wang in a report.

CIMB projects 63.4 million units of "iWatch" shipments in the year after its launch with an average price of around $199, while the "iWatch" project is estimated to contribute 19 per cent of Inventec's earnings in 2014, Wang said.

Supply chain sources do on occasion offer accurate information on Apple's plans, but they are also prone to sharing incorrect or incomplete information, so their reliability is difficult to ascertain.

CIMB's pricing and unit shipments also appear to be based more on speculation and modeling than any specific information, suggesting that they should be taken with considerable skepticism.

In the past couple of months, Apple has been reportedly been ramping up its iWatch effort, hiring new employees with expertise in health sensors, including fitness expert and Nike product consultant Jay Blahnik. Apple has also been filing trademark applications on the iWatch name in a number of countries, and is reportedly looking toward a late 2014 launch for the product as it works to solve numerous technical challenges.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

According to a new survey from research firm Forrester (via TechCrunch), Apple's iOS phone platform remains the highest priority for mobile software development teams, followed by the Android phone platform and the iOS tablet platform in second and third place respectively. The survey was done by asking 765 software developers creating mobile applications, and addressed not only iOS and Android but also platforms such as Windows Phone and Blackberry 10.

But while the survey shows that the iPhone remains the highest priority for developers, it also shows that more developers target Android phones somewhere in their plans, with 84% of developers planning Android phone support compared to the iPhone at 77%. A similar split is seen in tablets, with iOS being rated as the top priority by the most developers but Android more developers overall planning to support Android.

forrester_development

Despite iOS getting this first app mover advantage, more developers target Android phones overall than target iPhones (84% rank Android phones as a priority vs 77% for iPhones). This is to be expected, with Android being on so many smartphones at multiple price-points vs Apple’s limited iPhone portfolio. However the iPad does help to expand Apple’s developer mojo, with 27% of respondents ranking the iPad as their second priority device vs around a fifth putting the same level of importance on Android tablets. By contrast Windows RT tablets are being largely ignored by developers, according to Forrester’s data.

Apple is set to release iOS 7, the next version of its mobile operating system, in the next couple of months, likely fairly soon after the company's September 10 media event.

Apple confirmed Tuesday that it is now free to ship and sell its products in Iran, following the U.S. government's move to lift an export and sales ban earlier this year, reports The Wall Street Journal. The lifting of the export ban comes as the U.S. government pushes an initiative to support the free flow of information amidst a crackdown by the Iranian government on protesters' ability to share information.

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An Apple spokeswoman issued a statement on the matter:

“We’ve been told by the U.S. government that most Apple products are covered by regulatory changes announced by the Treasury Department,” she said, referring to a decision to ease restrictions on selling a broad array of communications equipment such as smartphones, laptops and computer software to Iran. “As a result, Apple is no longer banned from selling Macs and iOS devices to customers who plan to bring or send those products to Iran,” she said.

The use of technology has played a critical part in helping activists in the Middle East, and notably played a role during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Currently, the Global Trade Compliance section on Apple's website states that U.S. embargoes against Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria prevent the company from selling its products in those regions.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors 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.

The developers behind Metro: Last Light, a popular first-person shooter game, announced yesterday that they will ship a Mac version of the title on September 10 via the Mac App Store and the game distribution platform Steam. The game's developers, 4A Games, have also announced that a Linux version is in the works, although it will not be ready until "sometime later" this year.

Screenshot on 2013-08-28 at 12.23.10
The Ukrainian-based developers have also announced that the downloadable content for the game, which includes the "Ranger Mode", a setting for greater game difficulty, as well as new characters and weapons, will also be available upon the game's launch. Future releases will arrive simultaneously on all platforms.

"The Mac and Linux versions of Metro: Last Light are further testimony to the power and flexibility of the 4A Engine," said Oles Shishkovstov, Chief Technical Officer at 4A Games. "Development was handled in house by 4A games, and we are very happy with the results. We hope that Mac & Linux gamers will appreciate our efforts to create the best possible version for their machines."

Metro: Last Light was released for Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360 back in May to positive reviews. Critics praised the game's graphics, which are based on 4A Games' own 4A Engine specially developed for the game, as well as its intuitive storyline. The game is loosely based on the novel Metro 2033, a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel first released in Russia in 2005.

Sonny Dickson has posted several new photos showing the alleged front panel from the next-generation iPad, which is said to carry a slimmer, thinner design similar to the iPad mini. The photos appear to be consistent with a previous leak that depicted the front panel of the black next-generation iPad and an April leak showing the white version, all showing the same narrower side bezels. as well as a pair of flex cables that run along the long edge of the pane that also appear to consistent with prior reports.

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As with the black front panel part from earlier this month, this white part includes the integrated digitizer, with a pair of flex cables running along the long edge of the pane. Thosee connectors are somewhat different from those seen in Apple’s current line of iPads, but the company has also been rumored to be making a number of technological changes for the upcoming iPad, such as using the same touch panel technology found in the current-generation iPad mini.

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Apple will reportedly release the thinner full-size iPad and the next-generation iPad mini in the final three months of the year. The company is holding an iPhone media event on September 10, and it has been thought that new iPads would appear at a later date, but a report today claims that both iPhone and iPads will be introduced at the September 10 event.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Caution)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular peer-to-peer service BitTorrent has launched BitTorrent Sync for iOS, an app that allows users to sync and backup an unlimited number of files across their devices as well as the ability to share files with other devices. The app allows for syncing of photos and videos with Camera Roll backup integration, and also offers encrypted file transfers and QR code support for peer transfers.

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BitTorrent Sync is a brand new product from BitTorrent that lets you sync an unlimited number of files and folders of any size across all of your trusted devices. BitTorrent Sync for iOS gives you access to all of your synced folders when you’re on the go, and introduces a new mobile-to-mobile sharing feature for easily sending your photos and videos to your friends.

Prior to its release on iOS, the app started as an Android-only project released in beta last month. BitTorrent Sync can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]