Here’s everything Cellebrite’s forensic tool can extract from iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 23, 2016

Documents uncovered by ZDNet have revealed the true scope of technology from Israeli developer Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization, which specializes in smartphone data extraction, transfer and analysis.

The leaked documents show just how much private data its smartphone forensic tool UFED, used by law enforcement, is capable of extracting from iPhones.

In a single data-extraction session, investigators were able to collect a huge array of personal data from an iPhone 5 like messages, phone calls, voicemails, images and more, including some deleted content. UFED can pull similar data from other phones, too, including Wi-Fi hotspots and cellular towers the device's was connected to.

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Spotify for Mac gains Touch Bar shortcuts

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 23, 2016

Spotify for Mac was updated this morning with support for Touch Bar shortcuts on the new MacBook Pro models, German outlet Giga.de reported. A few handy music-playback controls are now available in Spotify's Mac app directly from the Touch Bar, including common controls such as transport and search, as well as persistent Now Playing buttons like play, pause, shuffle, repeat and the volume slider.

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Here’s what Super Mario Run would look like as a free-to-play game

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 23, 2016

A recent Nintendo survey asked a subset of Super Mario Run players who linked the game with their My Nintendo account how much they'd be willing to pay for the full game.

As you know, Super Mario Run can be downloaded at no charge, but a $9.99 upgrade is required to remove the restrictions from the three game modes and unlock its content beyond the first four levels of World 1.

Some people were so disgruntled with the high upgrade price that they wrote poor reviews on App Store, causing Nintendo’s share price to fall. Wouldn't it be great if Super Mario Run was a free to play title like Pokémon GO is? Well, PocketGamer took it upon itself to create some very illustrative mockups that imagine the parallel universe where Super Mario Run is free to play.

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Poor yields for TSMC’s 10-nanometer process could disrupt next iPad launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Trade publication DigiTimes said Friday that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has received orders to kick off volume production of Apple-designed A10X Fusion chips for the next iPad. However, unsatisfactory yields for TSMC's 10-nanometer process technology could disrupt planned March 2017 launch of the next iPad series.

The proportion of semiconductor devices on the silicon wafer found to perform properly is referred to as the yield. Yield rates in semiconductor fabrication can be as low as thirty percent due to process variation and many other reasons.

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The NomadPlus turns your iPhone power adapter into a portable battery

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

For everyday charging of your iPhone, the supplied power adapter that comes in your Apple retail packaging will suffice, but if you go places a lot, then having an AC adapter that can not only charge your iPhone, but also store power for charging when away from the plug is a must.

Nomad comes the rescue in this department with an ingenious idea; a special type of AC adapter known as the NomadPlus that includes a built-in 1,800 mAh battery inside.

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Have any Health information at a glance with HealthFace for Apple Watch

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

The developer team at Crunchy Bagel has taken the wraps of HealthFace, a product designed to assist regulars of Apple’s Health app in monitoring their vital data on the fly. HealthFace is capable of reaching deep into your personal Health catalogue and displaying virtually any data point in form of a complication on your wrist.

For users constrained to keeping a close eye on their vitals, food intake or other health related parameters, the app sets out to become a quasi extension of Apple’s Health app.

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TwitterThemeToggler makes it much easier to toggle Night Mode in the Twitter app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ December 23, 2016
Image showing a blue Twitter bird with a black shadow set against an all-white background

One of the saving graces of using Twitter at night is the built-in night mode theme that lets you cut down on all the white space by switching to it a darker background with light text.

Once you enable this dark mode, your eyes can finally take the load off and stop straining, but Twitter doesn’t exactly make toggling this feature on and off a cinch. That’s where a new free jailbreak tweak called TwitterThemeToggler comes into play.

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Consumer Reports won’t recommend new MacBook Pros over inconsistent battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2016

Consumer Reports will not be recommending Apple's latest MacBook Pro models due to inconsistent battery performance, the magazine said Thursday. After conducting a battery of tests, Consumer Reports discovered that battery life across all new Pros varied “dramatically” from one test to another.

On the other hand (as I note in this article), the battery woes might be caused by a software issue in Safari for Mac because Chrome (a notorious battery hog) fared far better in the tests.

Be that as it may, Apple's latest notebooks received low rating and failed to earn Consumer Report’s recommendation “after battery life issues surfaced during testing”. As a result, the new MacBook Pro is the first Apple notebook that did not receive a Consumer Reports recommendation, said the magazine.

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New Apple videos highlight enhanced iBooks for George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2016

Back in September, publisher HarperCollins debuted on iBooks Store exclusive Game of Thrones digital books featuring interactive content. Today, Apple began promoting these enhanced edition iBooks in last-minute holiday push with a trio of new videos published on its YouTube channel.

Comprised of five individual titles, these interactive iBook exclusives are available individually or as a $39.99 bundle from iBooks Store.

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Apple’s search for top OLED screens hinges on a small subsidiary of imaging giant Canon

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2016

Yesterday's report on Bloomberg detailed Apple's search for the best organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) panels on the market. The company's quest to deploy advanced OLED screens on iPhone 8 reportedly hinges on a single supplier in the Japanese countryside, called Canon Tokki, which has been making OLED machines since 1993.

A small branch of Japanese imaging corporation Canon, Tokki has “a near monopoly” on the machines that suppliers use to churn out OLEDs in volume. Although it employs just 343 engineers, Tokki has 20 years of experience developing and perfecting OLED manufacturing equipment.

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Apple Watch Series 2 holiday campaign continues with 9-second Go Swim ad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

Apple on Thursday shared a new and very, very short television commercial for the latest Apple Watch Series 2 wearable device via its YouTube channel.

Titled “Go Swim” and running just nine seconds long, the latest commercial highlights Apple Watch Series 2's water resistance and features the song "Evil Twin" by Krrum. Give it a quick watch and let us know how you liked it in the comment section.

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