Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
If you use an iPhone, iPad, or macOS then now is a good time to grab the latest updates due to a zero-day vulnerability found. The latest updates, released yesterday, fix this up by patching the vulnerability.
On the security page at Apple it describes the impact as follows:
[Read more…]Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Now that millions of people have installed iOS 6 on their iPhone or iPad a number of problems have been spotted with the Apple Maps. Problems include town names being in the wrong place down to air ports found in farmers fields etc… The list goes on and on.
In iOS 6, Apple dropped Google Maps as the standard and then switched to Apple Maps so that it had more control over the whole service. Although it has good points such as free navigation built in for latest gen and last gen devices, it still lacks in many areas. One notable example is no street view and even more so, the problem of the maps not being accurate.
iOS 6 was released a couple of days ago to the public and within the first day or so, many users have reported problems with the maps due to problems when them being incorrect in many cases. Part of the reason for the backlash was that the maps cut out street view which the previous Google version had from iOS 5 and earlier. But, that isn’t the only problem. Users have also complained that there are many errors to be found such as towns missing, towns labelled wrong as well as an airport marked on a farm in Ireland.
Apple has now responded to clarify where it stands. The comment first says how brilliant iOS 6 is and then tags a bit on the end saying that they have a team of engineers working on it.
Apple has sent out invites to a press event which will be held on September 12. As seen in the image below, the phrase “It’s almost here.” is used along with a 12 although the shadow is a number 5 which strongly hints at Apple calling the new phone, assuming it is a phone that is announced, an iPhone 5.
Apple has released the first update for OS X Mountain Lion today. The new update takes Mountain Lion users from OS X 10.8 to 10.8.1. With that update, which requires an update I’ll point out, fixes a few issues such as iMessage, Thunderbolt issues as well as battery life issues on MacBooks.
Over the last few months both Apple and Google have announced 3D maps are coming. Google quickly delivered by adding 3D to Google Earth on iOS. Apple is taking a little longer as the company is dropping Google Maps as the default map in iOS 6 and is going for its own mapping system.
iDownloadBlog decided to put maps up against each other to see which company produces the best 3D maps. At the moment Apple has the higher quality maps although Googles version of the same cities load a little quicker and that app offers a smoother experience.
Since the hack last week, Apple has now suspended (temporarily) password resets over the phone of AppleIDs. The reason seems to be to buy them time to figure out exactly how and why the password reset happened.
The current Facebook app for iOS is a tad slow and cumbersome to use. It does its job but not too well in my opinion. We heard rumours last month that Facebook was giving the app an overhaul to make it more speedy. We now hear today that Facebook has hired several ex Apple engineers to work on the app which will now be launching next year with a complete overhaul.
Yesterday we wrote that Apple is to do away with the 30 pin connector on the new iPhone and instead, will opt for a 19 pin (smaller) connector. The main reason for this appears to be a space saving exercise so that the few extra mm can be used for other chips such as LTE 4G etc…
Apple will be launching the next version of OS X Mountain Lion within the next week or so. Some are hinting that it could arrive this Wednesday. In preparation for the launch of the new operating system, it appears that Apple has been seeding the new version to AppleCare reps within the company. The reason for this will be so that they can become familiar with the operating system so that they can provide support on the day of launch.
As well as releasing the new Mac OS X 10.7.4 update yesterday, Apple also released a new version of Safari for the Mac.
The new iPad runs a little warmer than previous generation models. This has caused some concern for users who are saying that their own iPads are getting far too hot. Apple was contacted about this and has responded with the following:
“The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications. If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.”
