MacRumors

Apple has updated its Podcasts app, adding a much desired iCloud syncing feature along with the ability to create custom stations and On-The-Go playlists.

With custom stations, users can compile their favorite podcasts into lists that will be automatically updated when new episodes are released, and a new option allows listeners to decide whether custom stations begin playing the newest or oldest unplayed episodes.

Podcasts, which was released in June of last year, received significant criticism for its inability to sync with iTunes, a problem that has been remedied with the new update. In its original form, the Podcasts app garnered quite a few negative reviews for its shortcomings, giving the app a two star rating in the App Store. Version 1.2 appears to address many of the issues users had with the app.

-Create custom stations of your favorite podcasts that update automatically with new episodes
-Choose whether your stations begin playing with the newest or oldest unplayed episode
-Your stations are stored in iCloud and kept up-to-date on all of your devices
-Create an On-The-Go playlist with your own list of episodes
-Playlists synced from iTunes now appear in the Podcasts app
-The Now Playing view has been redesigned with easier to use playback controls
-Addressed an issue with resuming playback when returning to the app
-Additional performance and stability improvements

Stations are stored in Apple's iCloud and will be synced across all iOS devices. Playlists created in iTunes now sync with the Podcasts app, and a bug has been fixed that prevented playback from resuming correctly after exiting the app.

Podcasts users may also notice a few changes to the app's interface, which is now similar in style to the native iTunes music app. Apple has done away with the skeuomorphic push-buttons and removed the reel-to-reel player hidden underneath the image for finer controls.

Podcasts for the iPad and the iPhone is a free app that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple has implemented a new two-step verification system for Apple IDs (via 9to5Mac), adding an additional layer of protection for Apple accounts with an extra security code and a "trusted" device.

Two-step verification will require you to verify your identity using one of your devices before you can make changes to your account or make an iTunes or App Store purchase from a new device. You will also get a Recovery Key for safekeeping which you can use to access your account if you ever forget your password or lose your device.

Once enabled, the new system replaces the standard security questions that are asked before users make purchases on a new device and password resets can only be done from the designated iPhone or iPad.

As the recovery key is used in place of security questions, keeping it secure is of the utmost importance. A lost or forgotten key can be recovered with a trusted device and a password, just as a password can be recovered with a trusted device and a recovery key.

The verification system will request a password that has one letter, one number, one capital letter, and at least eight characters. If such a password is not already in use, users will need to wait three days to fully enable two-step verification. Users with an already compliant password can move on immediately to the next step.

A security code will be sent through SMS or using the Find My iPhone app, and during setup, users can choose a single trusted device. To begin the process, users can visit the Apple ID website to implement two-step verification.

According to a report from Strategy Analytics (via Engadget) Apple's iCloud and iTunes Match are the most frequently used cloud media services, with a combined usage total of 27%.

To get its numbers, Strategy Analytics asked 2,300 Americans the following question: “Have you ever used any of the following online digital locker services which enabled you to store music, video (including TV shows and movies) or games online (”in the cloud“ and stream them to an Internet connected device?”

Dropbox came in second at 17% and Amazon's Cloud Drive came in third with 15%. Google Drive came in fourth, with Ultraviolet, Samsung Music Hub, Online, LG Cloud, and Galkai following behind.

The survey revealed that the majority of people (at 55%) had never used a cloud media service at all, and as Strategy Analytics points out, Dropbox, with its second place ranking, is the only service without an associated content ecosystem. Music is a major factor in cloud usage with 90% of Apple, Amazon, and Google cloud users storing music. 45% of Dropbox users use the service to store music.

“Music is currently the key battleground in the war for cloud domination. Google is tempting users by giving away free storage for 20,000 songs which can be streamed to any Android device, a feature both Amazon and Apple charge annual subscriptions for,” observes Ed Barton, Strategy Analytics' Director of Digital Media.

Usage of cloud storage is skewed heavily towards younger people, being especially popular among 20–24 year olds. iCloud and iTunes Match were the only services with more female than male users, and Google Drive skewed towards a male subscription base.

Bloomberg notes that Apple has posted the 2012 update of its environmental policy pages, noting that the company has now achieved 100% renewable energy usage at all of its data centers. On a worldwide basis, the company's corporate facilities are now running on 75% renewable energy, up from 35% just two years ago.

Our goal is to power every facility at Apple entirely with energy from renewable sources — solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. So we’re investing in our own onsite energy production, establishing relationships with suppliers to procure renewable energy off the grid, and reducing our energy needs even as our employee base grows.

Our investments are paying off. We’ve already achieved 100 percent renewable energy at all of our data centers, at our facilities in Austin, Elk Grove, Cork, and Munich, and at our Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino. And for all of Apple’s corporate facilities worldwide, we’re at 75 percent, and we expect that number to grow as the amount of renewable energy available to us increases. We won’t stop working until we achieve 100 percent throughout Apple.

The move to 100% renewable energy for its data centers represents the completion of a commitment the company made last May to address criticism from Greenpeace over its energy usage. While Greenpeace's ratings were based on erroneous calculations and assumptions, Apple took the opportunity to make more public statements about its energy usage and plans.

Apple estimates that its carbon footprint for 2012 included 30.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, with 98% of that total directly related to the life cycles of its products. The total represents a 34% increase over the company's 2011 estimates, but Apple notes that recent increases have been driven primarily by growth in its sales, with emissions per dollar of revenue decreasing by 21.5% from 2008 to 2012.

Last week, Google apparently accidentally leaked a promotional video revealing that its Google Now app will be coming to iOS. Google Now is currently an Android-only app designed to automatically integrate relevant bits of information such as weather, traffic, appointments, and more into users' lives. The video was quickly removed, but Google had not issued a statement on its appearance.

iPhone Hacks now points to a Tweet from Techmeme editor Mahendra Palsule noting that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked about Google Now coming to iOS at the company's Big Tent event in India today. According to the report, Schmidt suggested that whether or not Google Now comes to the App Store is currently up to Apple's reviewers. The exchange between Schmidt and The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger appears nearly 18 minutes into the interview (via TechCrunch):

Q: When can I get Google Now on my iPhone?

A: On your iPhone? You'll need to discuss that with Apple. Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve and some of them they don't. They recently did approve Google Maps, thank goodness. [laughter] And without being too obnoxious, you have excellent vendors of Android choices for you in London, from many different suppliers.

Q: So, has Apple got a problem with Google Now?

A: That was an ambiguous statement. Does Apple have a problem with Google, or Google Now? [laughter]

Q: Sorry...Google Now. Capital letter.

A: Let me not talk about the specifics. I don't think they're particularly worried about Google Now.

Apple and Google obviously have had a contentious relationship as competition between iOS and Android has intensified in recent years. While Apple has generally approved Google's apps submitted to the App Store, there have in some cases been significant delays, as seen with Google Voice remaining in limbo for over a year before finally receiving approval.

Update 11:27 AM: Apple has informed CNET that Google has not submitted an iOS version of Google Now to the App Store for review.

Update 3:00 PM: Google has admitted to CNET that it has "not submitted Google Now to Apple’s App Store."

While Apple has received much praise for the aesthetics of its iPhone designs, it has also received criticism over durability issues, with many users unfortunately experiencing the problems with glass displays after dropping their devices onto hard surfaces. The iPhone 4 and 4S in particular have received criticism for their use of glass rear panels in addition to the front panel needed to accommodate the devices' displays.

On the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch, Apple began using sapphire crystal to cover the rear camera, providing superior durability and scratch resistance.

Although the surface of the iSight camera is as clear as glass, it’s not made of glass. It’s actually sapphire crystal, whose hardness is second only to diamond on the scale of transparent materials. That means the surface of the lens is far less likely to scratch.

As MIT Technology Review reports, however, smartphone users may find their entire screens covered by sapphire instead of glass in the relatively near future.

Sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, probably won’t ever be as cheap as Gorilla Glass, the durable material from Corning that’s used to make screens on iPhones and other smartphones. A Gorilla Glass display costs less than $3, while a sapphire display would cost about $30. But that could fall below $20 in a couple of years thanks to increased competition and improving technology, says Eric Virey, an analyst for the market research firm Yole Développement. And since sapphire performs better than glass, that price could make it cheap enough to compete, he says.

Virey says that all major mobile phone makers are considering using sapphire instead of glass, with some high-end smartphones perhaps moving to sapphire as soon as late this year. The report does not, however, address whether Apple is seriously looking at expanding its use of sapphire beyond the camera cover glass.

The report also outlines how cheaper options involving laminating a thin layer of sapphire onto a cheaper material are also under development, moves that could bring the price premium over Gorilla Glass to only three or four times with the potential to come down even further.

Corning is of course not standing still with its Gorilla Glass products either, having announced Gorilla Glass 3 earlier this year. The new glass offers significantly greater strength and scratch resistance than its predecessors and could also be used to make thinner displays.

Russian security firm Doctor Web this week highlighted a new trojan (via The Next Web) affecting OS X systems and which installs an adware plug-in capable of injecting ads into users' browsing experience.

As with other trojans, this new Yontoo malware relies on tricking users into installing the package, which in this case masquerades as a movie trailer video plug-in, download accelerator, or other software a user might believe they want or need on their system.

When launched, Trojan.Yontoo.1 displays a dialogue window that asks the user if they want to install Free Twit Tube.

However, after the user presses ‘Continue’, instead of the promised program, the Trojan downloads (from the Internet) and installs the plugin Yontoo for Safari, Chrome and Firefox. These browsers are most popular among Mac OS X users. While a user surfs the web, the plugin transmits information about the loaded pages to a remote server.

In return, it gets a file that enables the Trojan to embed third-party code into pages visited by the user.

As an example of Yontoo's capabilities, Doctor Web shows how ads can be injected into apple.com once the plug-in has been unwittingly installed by the user.

Compared to Windows, OS X has long been a relatively unpopular target for malware authors, but attacks targeting Apple customers have been on the rise. Many of the most highly publicized attacks come via trojans that rely on tricking users into granting installation privileges, while third-party platforms such as Java have also frequently been used to inject code into Mac systems.

Apple has been increasing its efforts to fight malware, introducing a rudimentary anti-malware functionality in OS X Snow Leopard and an enhanced Gatekeeper system in OS X Mountain Lion. Apple has also increasingly been blocking vulnerable versions of Java until Oracle is able to release patched versions of its plug-ins.

DigiTimes is reporting that next-generation iPhone components will begin shipping at the end of May, and Apple's new smartphone could show up sometime in the third quarter, matching with other reports that an iPhone 5S would be released in June or July.

Components for the next-generation iPhone will start shipping at the end of May with the new smartphone to have a chance of showing up in the third quarter, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The new iPhone will not receive a major upgrade and may just be a slightly enhanced version of iPhone 5 (iPhone 5S), the sources said citing their latest specification data.

DigiTimes' sources claim the iPhone 5S would have a higher-end processor and a higher-megapixel camera, which match with other rumors about the phone.

Other recent reports say Foxconn is currently preparing to ramp production on the iPhone 5S and that it may come equipped with a fingerprint sensor.

The United States Department of Defense is reportedly ordering more than 650,000 iOS devices according to Electronista, which cites unnamed sources.

The report says the DoD will purchase 120,000 iPads, 120,000 iPad minis, 200,000 iPod touches and 210,000 iPhones. The devices will be used in a variety of situations, with more than 50% "headed to the battlefield, afloat, and to associated support commands." The rest will be used in office situations like the Pentagon.

Another source familiar with the situation told us that the iOS devices were intended to replace nearly all the older BlackBerry devices incompatible with the new BlackBerry 10 software release. Statistics gathered from devices deployed by the DoD show 470,000 BlackBerry devices in daily use, none of which use the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Testing of the new operating system has been gravely impacted by the sequester, and the outright elimination of funds earmarked for the BlackBerry 10 platform may never be restored.

The site suggests that the actual order of the devices is being delayed due to the sequester, and the purchase will move forward once that is resolved by Congress.

Update: The Department of Defense has denied the claims made in Electronista's article, saying that it has no plans to end support for BlackBerry phones. Additionally, the spokesperson said DoD "mobility experts are looking into what has been reported and are not familiar with the figures quoted in that report/article."

The DoD says it supports more than 600,000 mobile devices currently, including 470,000 BlackBerry, 41,000 iOS, and 8,700 Android.

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