Apple has released Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7. The updates address the vulnerability in Java exploited by the Flashback.K trojan. The latest variant of Flashback.K could hijack you Mac even if you don’t enter an admin password. Apple says this can occur when visiting a Web page that is running an untrusted Java applet.
The update is available for OS X Lion 10.7.3 and Mac OS X 10.6.8, and you can get it via Software Update.
Ars Technica:
Ars recently attempted to delve into the inner workings of the security built into Apple’s iCloud service. Though we came away reasonably certain that iCloud uses industry best practices that Apple claims it uses to protect data and privacy, we warned that your information isn’t entirely protected from prying eyes. At the heart of the issue is the fact that Apple can, at any time, review the data synced with iCloud, and under certain circumstances might share that information with legal authorities.
It’s a a good article and should be read by anyone who uses iCloud but the bottom line is, if you didn’t encrypt it yourself, it can be vulnerable to others.
Clyde Prestowitz for CNN:
As a business, Apple has a right to fear that moving the assembly work from China to the United States will entail raising labor costs so high as to make the company less competitive and profitable. But for it to say that it has no obligation to help solve America’s problems is completely unacceptable.
The problems in the U.S. economy are not for Apple to resolve. They pay taxes — I’m sure they pay a lot of taxes — and they employ tens of thousands of Americans in high paying jobs.
Apple is not a charity, nor should it make business decisions based on a country’s needs or wants. Apple has one financial responsibility — to make money for its shareholders.
Instead of giving trillions in bailout money to companies that have been mismanaged, why not use that money to make doing business in America more attractive.
Apple’s Tim Cook tops the ranks of CEOs whose employees think they’re doing a good job, according to a new poll at Glassdoor.com.
Two of Apple’s university partners reached significant milestones this month on the company’s free education service, iTunes U. Both Stanford and Open University reached 50 million downloads of their respective content. […]
MSNBC:
None of us living today will ever get beyond our celestial backyard in real life, but there’s a fleet of apps out there that can blast you through hyperspace to explore — and understand — the far frontiers of the cosmos on your tablet computer. The latest app is “The Wonders of the Universe,” a multimedia spin-off of physicist Brian Cox’s coffee-table book and TV documentary series of the same name.The app, sold by Harper Collins for the iPad 2 and the new iPad, organizes more than 200 interactive articles, two and a half hours of video and hundreds of graphics to do a show-and-tell that ranges from subatomic quarks to the largest scales of the cosmic web.
The article also mentions and has video of four other space-themed apps for the iPad: The Night Sky, Solar System for iPad, Solar Walk and my personal favorite, Star Walk.
Apple says it will disclose its Q2 2012 financial results on Tuesday, April 24 at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET) and will provide a live audio webcast of the earnings conference call.
Apple products can now be found in about half of U.S. homes nationwide.
AllThingsD:
Led by the 4S, Apple’s iPhone line continues to rack up strong sales at AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. So strong that some believe it’s likely the top-selling phone at all three of those carriers.“Our March checks indicated the iPhone continues to extend its market share gains,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley writes in a note to clients today. “In fact, we believe iPhones are outselling all other smartphones combined at Sprint and AT&T and selling at roughly equal volume to all Android smartphones at Verizon.”That’s pretty astonishing, all things considered.
But Android is still “winning”.
Ben Bajarin:
They create objects of desire and out of that focus comes a visually and easy to use user experience paradigm that drives emotional responses in consumers of their products.
Great way to put it. Apple products, like few others, elicit a response from its users. It’s not just the design or the interface, it’s the whole package.
Marcelo Somers:
Unfortunately, most organizations and even start ups still start with a list of features or things they want to build. People don’t consume features. They experience activities that add to their lives.
This is why Apple has been so successful. They build a problem to solve a problem and make our experience better. Consumers may not understand that’s what happening, but when they use an Apple product, they immediately get it.
Apple makes the difficult look very easy. There’s a lot going on under those simple-to-use apps, but they hide all of that from us so we can just get things done.
Reuters:
But at the Foxconn factory gates, many workers seemed unconvinced that their pay wouldn’t be cut along with their hours. For some Chinese factory workers – who make much of their income from long hours of overtime – the idea of less work for the same pay could take getting used to.
What would people in North America or Europe think if a Chinese company came over and said “we’re cutting back your hours and the amount of overtime you can work.” I’m betting it wouldn’t be a welcomed decision.
I understand what Foxconn is doing and if the workers end up benefiting from it, then that’s good.
Apple on Friday was named the top consumer brand in Japan by Nikkei. This is the first time the company has taken the honor in Japan. […]
New York Times:
Foxconn, which manufactures more than 40 percent of the world’s electronics for such companies as Apple, Dell, Amazon and others, has pledged to sharply curtail the number of working hours within its Chinese factories and significantly increase wages, a move that could improve working conditions across China.The shift comes after a far-ranging inspection by the Fair Labor Association, a monitoring group, found widespread problems.Apple, in a statement, said the company fully supports the monitoring group’s recommendations. “We think empowering workers and helping them understand their rights is essential. Our team has been working for years to educate workers, improve conditions and make Apple’s supply chain a model for the industry, which is why we asked the F.L.A. to conduct these audits.”
Reuters:
Apple Inc’s Tim Cook, on his first trip to China as the chief executive officer, has visited an iPhone production plant run by the Foxconn Technology Group, which is being accused of improper labor practices.
The Week:
Apple has no shortage of cash in its vaults, so it’s pretty easy to see why the tech giant is constantly slapped with lawsuits of questionable merit. From disillusioned complaints of Siri’s capabilities to a bizarre sodomy suit filed against late founder Steve Jobs, here, seven of the sillier challenges the Cupertino powerhouse has faced through the years.
Apple gets sued frequently by other entities – Motorola, Samsung, the Australian government, etc – and you’ve all heard about the unfortunate grandmother who broke her nose walking into the glass window of a Long Island Apple Store (she is now suing Apple for $1 million dollars). But that’s not even the oddest lawsuit served against Apple. Did you know that one person sued Apple because he alleged O.J. Simpson had been working as a hit man for Steve Jobs?
Apple confirms that Tim Cook met with Chinese officials during a trip to China this week.
M.I.C Gadget:
Fu Chunli, a citizen of Qingdao, China, downloaded the 25 billionth app from Apple’s App Store early this month, pushing the mobile software store to a new milestone. The young lady downloaded a free version of Disney’s popular mobile game ‘Where’s my water?’As the winner, she received an iTunes gift card worth 10,000 US dollars. Last week, Apple invited her to the Beijing Apple store to collect her prize.
There is just too much stupid to mention with this one.
Mike Daisey, the stage performer behind “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” finally admitted that he’s a liar.
Paswall claims that she didn’t realize that she was walking into a wall of glass as she approached the store, and says that she broke her nose as a result of the collision.Her suit claims that “the defendant was negligent … in allowing a clear, see-through glass wall and/or door to exist without proper warning.”
Don’t blame your stupid on someone else.
AllThingsD: Apple’s move to make Best Buy an outlet for the iPhone back in 2008 is proving a wise one — lucrative, too. Over the past few years, the retail chain has become an increasingly important outlet for Apple, extending … Continued
In-Stat predicts that Apple will overtake Intel as the world’s largest mobile processor company by the end of the year.
Daisey impugned the integrity of Apple — and the journalism of ABC News — in order to work people up regarding problems that don’t exist. This only served to draw attention away from the labor, health, and environmental issues in Apple’s Asian supply chain that do exist.
Great read from John.
Mike Daisey has done an immeasurable amount of damage to Apple with his lies over the past couple of years. While I doubt Apple will seek any compensation, I don’t see why Daisey should be allowed to profit. […]
On Monday morning Apple told the world what they plan to do with its almost $100 billion in cash – later this year, Apple will begin paying dividends and will buy back shares.
You can listen to streaming audio from the conference call now from Apple’s site.
It’s pretty clear Tim Cook is putting his own mark on Apple.
Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors, the Company plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012.Additionally, the Company’s Board of Directors has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program commencing in the Company’s fiscal 2013, which begins on September 30, 2012. The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.
Apple:
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash.Apple will provide live audio streaming of its conference call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 6:00 a.m. PDT on March 19, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/call31912.
Short version: “We have a buttload of cash. Here’s what we’re going to do with it.”
A person at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, who has not been identified or charged in a broad U.S. insider-trading probe, was caught on a wiretap leaking secrets about Intel Corp and Apple Inc, a lawyer for accused former Goldman board member Rajat Gupta said in court on Friday.