In addition to release a new beta update for iOS 10 this morning, Apple issued updates for tvOS, watchOS, and macOS as well. All of the updates are for developers, and should be used with caution on a secondary device. The updates can all be downloaded from the device, if you have a previous beta installed, or from your developer account.
Apple releases iOS 10 Beta 5
Apple released iOS Beta 5 to developers this morning. If you have iOS Beta installed, you can download the update by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
It should go without saying, but you should only install betas on a secondary device. Although Apple betas are really good, like most betas, things may not work as expected.
Apple details iOS security at Black Hat conference
Apple engineer Ivan Krstić spoke on far more than Apple’s new bug bounty program at the Black Hat security conference, and delved into the inner workings of iOS hardware and software security features both in iOS 9 and the forthcoming iOS 10.
Security is such an important issue these days. It’s a great move for Apple to speak publicly about what they are doing to make its products secure.
Apple rejects iPhone price-fixing allegations in Russia
Apple, in emailed comments, said it did not oblige Russian resellers to fix prices for its products.
“Resellers set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world,” the company’s press office said.
It just doesn’t make any sense that Apple would be involved in price fixing.
Vulnerability affects 900 million Android phones
Check Point today disclosed details about a set of four vulnerabilities affecting 900 million Android smartphones and tablets that use Qualcomm chipsets. The Check Point mobile threat research team, which calls the set of vulnerabilities QuadRooter, presented its findings in a session at DEF CON 24 in Las Vegas.
Be safe Android people. There is a safer way.
September sponsorships available
I just opened up sponsorships for September on the site, at a lower price for a limited time. If you want to get your product in front of The Loop readers, get in touch.
This is what happens when you have a beard and look straight up
Looks like The Muppet’s character, Beaker.
The Berlin Wi-Fi Project
The short story – For the past year and a half I’ve collected wi-fi names that caught my attention all around Berlin. Click on the green markers on the map to read the wi-fi names exactly where I found them, along with my unrequested comments/interpretation/research on their meanings.
Some of these are funny—the comments certainly make a big difference in understand the names.
AT&T pays FCC fine for allowing scam
AT&T has settled with the FCC over a “cramming” investigation that found the carrier allowed scammers to place unauthorized charges onto customer bills, and collected a fee from the sham companies involved in the scheme.
And carriers wonder why we don’t trust them.
‘Stranger Things’ poster artwork created on iPad Pro
After a few weeks of exploration, the studio and I settled on a composition and I was tasked with painting the finished poster. I used the Procreate app on my iPad Pro to do the preliminary sketches and for blocking the basic colors of the poster. I then exported these layers into Adobe Photoshop and began detailing the artwork at a much higher resolution.
This is really impressive. The iPad Pro can be used for many things from creative endeavors to daily work—as technology continues to move forward, the possibilities are almost endless.
The media responds (predictably) to Facebook’s clickbait policy
Clickbait headlines are exactly why I support independent writers instead of organizations that lower themselves to using such tactics. Usually, clickbait offers nothing more than a tantalizing headline—nothing to backup the reason you clicked on it in the first place. It’s a frustrating practice, but when we become aware of what’s going on, we can support the people, and sites, that treat us, the readers, with respect.
Merger mania in tech
Merger mania is all the rage in tech, where it’s beginning to feel like the late 1990s and early 2000 bust era all over again. But this time there’s a notable difference that speaks to the fundamental value being created in this second dot-com boom. Companies are being scooped up for billions instead of being shuttered.
It’s true, and stunning, when you consider how much companies are selling for these days.
Hulu ends free streaming service
Hulu is moving to an all-subscription model, eliminating the ad-supported service that has let users watch thousands of TV episodes in the nine years since it first launched.
I tried Hulu in the past and just didn’t find it compelling. Like many, I’m waiting to see what Apple can pull together.
Spotify’s Release Radar
Updated every Friday, Release Radar gives you up to two hours of the newest drops from the artists you follow and listen to the most, sprinkled in with some new discoveries based on your recent listening habits. Release Radar is the perfect complement to New Music Friday, which connects you with hot new artists you may not know about yet. You’ll soon find your personalized Release Radar playlist in the New Releases for You section within Discover on mobile and desktop.
Good idea—focus on your favorite artist’s new music instead of just a genre.
Amazon Japan raided
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has raided the offices of Amazon.com Inc’s local unit on suspicion of pressuring retailers to offer products at lower prices than on rival sites, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.
Isn’t this what Amazon does in every country it operates, including the U.S.?
Ronnie James Dio hologram debuts at German metal festival
The fervent Ronnie James Dio fans who gathered to watch a group of the late singer’s former bandmates close out Germany’s mega-sized heavy-metal festival Wacken Open Air Saturday night got a big surprise: a theatrical performance by Dio in hologram form.
I am a huge Dio fan, but I find this a bit creepy.
Vocal pitch correction shootout
This seems to indicate that despite all the negative rhetoric often seen written in forums and on social media about tuning software it seems 9 in 10 preferred a tuned vocal in this case.
I don’t think listeners mind pitch corrected vocals, I think they mind overuse of pitch correction.
Buzz Aldrin’s travel voucher reimbursement for his trip to the moon
Now that is a travel voucher.
9 pieces of obsolete tech that just won’t die
Have you had to write a rent check lately? Or maybe fax some important documents? Despite things like Venmo and email that normal people use every day, these ancient bits of tech and culture just keep hanging on. There’s clearly better technology, it’s just that not everyone is using it.
I laughed a little reading this.
Battery pack sales double since the release of Pokemon Go
If the first rule of Pokémon Go is “Gotta catch ‘em all,” the second rule is you are going to need to bring an extra battery to do so.
One game driving the sales of another accessory—good for them.
Beatles’ ‘Revolver’: 15 things you didn’t know
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band marked the Beatles’ cultural apex, effectively re-tuning the zeitgeist of Western society in 1967’s Summer of Love, but its predecessor – Revolver, released August 5th, 1966 – was the band’s biggest musical watershed. Never had the Beatles emerged with such a brace of high-quality songs.
Like many, Revolver is one of my favorites.
Google self-driving car exec leaves
Now, 1.8 million miles of autonomous driving later, I’ve decided the time is right to step down and find my next adventure. Today will be my last day on the project as CTO. After leading our cars through the human equivalent of 150 years of driving and helping our project make the leap from pure research to developing a product that we hope someday anyone will be able to use, I am ready for a fresh challenge.
A 1937 White Model 706 Yellowstone Park Bus at auction
The history of Yellowstone Park is remarkably faceted with tales in various areas, not the least of which is transportation. From hiking to pack mule to stage coach to busses, the transportation story of Yellowstone is truly one for the books…
This is very cool.
Amazon’s first “Prime Air” plane
Amazon is shipping enough packages across the U.S. that it is starting to need its own planes. Now we know what they look like.
It’s truly amazing how many packages Amazon ships. They are a trusted brand for so many people.
New Motorhead live album released
Recorded during their stand at the Zenith in Munich in November 2015, this concert shows the band raging just before its final conclusion.
Miss you Lemmy.
Universal Audio releases the Manley VOXBOX Channel Strip
Built to deliver the ultimate in vocal production, the Manley VOXBOX channel strip combines the best of Manley’s ultra-boutique audio designs, including their high-fidelity tube mic preamp, vactrol optical compressor, Pultec-style passive EQ, and de-esser/limiter.
I can’t wait to try this.
Millennial branding
We want simplicity back. This can be seen throughout the design world where distilled versions of logos are being created in order to cut through the noise of millennial living.
We are bombarded with information these days—cutting through is becoming so important.
Another patent troll targets Apple in lawsuit
511 Innovations is a Texas-based non-practicing entity that does not appear to sell any sensor-related products, but instead seeks to enforce its patented technologies through litigation. Eastern Texas is a common district for patent holding firms to target larger companies like Apple, which has fought similar lawsuits from VirnetX, Dot 23, VoIP-Pal, and others in recent years.
Something has to be done with these people.
On Apple’s Bug Bounty Program
Security researcher Rich Mogull:
It should surprise no one that Apple is writing their own playbook for bug bounties. Both bigger, with the largest potential payout I’m aware of, and smaller, focusing on a specific set of vulnerabilities with, for now, a limited number of researchers. Many, including myself, are definitely free to be surprised that Apple is launching a program at all. I never considered it a certainty, nor even necessarily something Apple had to do.
Learn how to use the Apple TV Remote app
This is an article that Apple posted on its Web site today.