Apple

Amazon to acquire Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 16, 2017

Online retail giant Amazon just made a major retail move by announcing it's acquiring organic grocer Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion.

Whole Foods Market in April reported its sixth consecutive quarter of declining sales. The supermarket chain focuses on organic foods without artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners and hydrogenated fats.

The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, should be completed during the second half of this year. The acquisition includes Whole Foods Market’s net debt as well.

Whole Foods Market stores and brand will live on and John Mackey will remain the company's CEO. Whole Foods Market’s headquarters will stay in Austin, Texas.

Jeff Bezons, Amazon's founder and chief executive, said:

Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy. Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades—they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.

As Statista noted, the move gives Amazon almost as many stores as Apple: Whole Foods currently has 456 stores worldwide versus 496 Apple Stores across 21 countries.

The online retailer entered the grocery market in 2007 with the launch of AmazonFresh. In other words, Whole Food products will be available for online ordering through AmazonFresh.

Whole Foods Market is the United States' first certified organic grocer. The company is ranked #28 on Fortune’s list of World’s Most Admired Companies for 2017.

WikiLeaks: CIA has been hacking wireless routers for years

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 16, 2017

A new batch of confidential “Vault 7” documents, leaked by the non-profit whistleblower organization WikiLeaks, has revealed that the United States Central Intelligence Agency has been hacking routers from major brands for years, turning them into surveillance devices.

The reported "Cherry Blossom" tool can modify a router's firmware without a victim's knowledge, giving the attacker a wide range of capabilities like eavesdropping on network traffic, gathering passwords, scanning for email addresses and phone numbers and more.

The attacker even has the power to redirect an unsuspecting user to a particular website, including government-created webpages used for phishing purposes.

Once infected, the backdoor remains functional even after a router is updated to a newer firmware version, so long as it has not changed its underlying hardware or operating system.

The hack cannot be deployed remotely. Instead, the CIA can install it on a target router using its Claymore tool or by side-loading a compromised firmware using supply chain tactics (intercepting the target device between the factory and the end user).

ZDNet reports that the documents reveal that the “Cherry Blossom” hack supports more than two-dozen router models from major manufacturers.

Among the compromised router brands are the devices from Asus, Belkin, Buffalo, Dell, Dlink, Linksys, Motorola, Netgear, Senao and US Robotics. However, Apple's AirPort devices don't seem to be among them, but the fact they're not listed doesn't mean that the CIA hasn't hacked Time Capsule and AirPort devices.

Apple hires two longtime Sony Pictures Television executives to lead original video programming

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 16, 2017

Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg are joining Apple from Sony Pictures Television, the Cupertino giant announced Friday.

In their new Apple role, Erlicht and Van Amburg will be tasked with overseeing all aspects of Apple's video programming, including its video programming worldwide.

Variety says Sony hasn't named their replacement and it's unclear if the studio has an internal successor ready to take the helm of the production unit that is crucial to its bottom line.

Jamie Erlicht was quoted in Apple's press release as saying the following:

It will be an honor to be part of the Apple team. We want to bring to video what Apple has been so successful with in their other services and consumer products—unparalleled quality.

Zack Van Amburg added:

Apple has a relentless focus on delighting customers with their products. We will bring that same intention to Apple’s programming and we could not be more excited about what lies ahead.

Reporting to Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, the two executives have extensive expertise producing television for global audiences and creating programming for video services like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.

Cue was quoted as saying:

Jamie and Zack are two of the most talented TV executives in the world and have been instrumental in making this the golden age of television. We have exciting plans in store for customers and can’t wait for them to bring their expertise to Apple—there is much more to come.

Both executives were longtime presidents of Sony Pictures Television since 2005, helping produce hit shows like “Breaking Bad”, “Better Call Saul”, “The Crown”, “Rescue Me” and more.

Their shows won 36 Emmys and dozens of Golden Globes, AFI and WGA awards.

Google prepping new app for backing up your Mac to Drive

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2017

Are you a fan of Drive, the search giant's cloud-storage service? If so, a new app from Google will soon let you back up any folder(s) on your computer to Drive and keep them in sync.

This is welcome news because Drive's current desktop client does not allow for selective sync of any folders that don't live inside of the Google Drive folder on your Mac or Windows PC.

The forthcoming Backup and Sync app is better integrated with your computer than the existing client and will replace it on Wednesday, June 28.

According to the search firm, Backup and Sync is intended to “help everyday users back up files and photos from their computers, so they’re safe and accessible from anywhere”.

As mentioned, you'll be able to continually back up any items found in custom folders on your computer, like the Desktop, Photos, Documents and so forth.

Backup and Sync will replace Google's existing desktop uploader for Photos, too.

Basically, you could use the new app to back up and sync your entire Mac account's home folder to Drive and use Google's powerful search engine via Drive's web interface to quickly identify that needle in the haystack you were looking for.

However, you'll probably need to upgrade your cloud storage to keep your Mac safely backed up to Drive. Each Google account gets 15GB of free Drive storage versus Apple's 5GB free tier.

If you need more storage, you can upgrade to one of the paid Drive tiers:

100GB for $1.99 per month 1TB for $9.99 per month 10TB for $99.99 per month

And here are Apple's recently refreshed iCloud storage upgrades:

50GB for $0.99 per month 200GB for $2.99 per month 2TB for $9.99 per month

Google Drive for Mac and Windows is available via google.com/drive/download.

Google Drive for iPhone and iPad is a free download from App Store.

Do you use Google Drive? If so, are you looking forward to backing up your Mac to the Google cloud? If not, what's your preferred online service for storing files, documents and other data?

Tell us in comments!

IBM’s new Garage initiative aims to accelerate development of iOS enterprise apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2017

Building upon the Apple-IBM enterprise mobility partnership established three years ago, Big Blue (that's a nickname for IBM) today announced a new initiative to help accelerate the development of MobileFirst enterprise apps for iPhone and iPad.

Upcoming app development studios, called Garages, will soon go online in Shanghai, China and Bucharest, Romania, in addition to IBM's existing MobileFirst for iOS studio in Bangalore, India.

IBM's other app studios and Garages can be found in US cities Atlanta, Cupertino, Toronto and Chicago. Plus, the company has committed to establishing new app studios in Shanghai, China and Bucharest, Romania. Lastly, mobile enterprise apps designed by IBM can now be embedded with the cognitive capabilities of its Watson cognitive system.

Bridget van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, IBM Industry Platforms, said:

Four years ago, we made enterprise mobility a reality, and we’ve seen how transformative mobile can be. Today, companies are now reigning in mobile faster than ever, creating a critical need for powerful innovations that will reinvent how they do business. We’re combining the power of mobile with cognitive and analytics to continue to push the market forward.

IBM has officially named some of the clients adopting iOS enterprise apps for their own employees, such as Lufthansa Group, City Furniture, Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines.

Since its introduction three years ago, the partnership between Apple and IBM has resulted in several billion dollars in signings with more than 3,800 client engagements supported by market-ready and custom iOS apps designed for professions across all industries, including store associates, flight attendants and field technicians.

watchOS 4 celebrates your birthday with animated balloons

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2017

A new, previously unseen feature in watchOS 4 will shower your watch face with animated balloons on the day of your birthday. Stumbled upon by MacRumors forum member “mrToasty”, the celebratory animation is visually similar to the similar fullscreen animation that's available in the Messages app on iOS 10 or later.

The user posted an accompany video to show off the celebratory effect in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLlN1oEfqI

You will receive a “Happy Birthday!” notification on your Apple Watch on the day of your birthday, as determined by your birth date in your Apple ID. Tapping the notification will shower your current watch face with celebratory balloons, as evidenced by the video embedded above.

How do you like this neat feature of watchOS 4?

Tell us in comments!

Apple working to bring comprehensive clinical data to iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2017

Aiming to turn your iPhone into the “one-stop shop for all your medical info,” a secretive team within Apple's growing Health unit has been in talks with developers, hospitals and other industry groups about bringing comprehensive clinical data to the device.

CNBC has learned from a half-dozen people familiar with the team that a future revision to the stock Health app could let users store their detailed lab results and stuff like allergy lists to their iPhone for optional sharing with hospitals, doctors, health developers and more.

“Imagine turning to your iPhone for all your health and medical information—every doctor's visit, lab test result, prescription and other health information, all available in a snapshot on your phone and shared with your doctor on command,” reads the article.

In its quest to turn the handset into the central bank for all health-related information, Apple is allegedly exploring potential acquisitions and attending health IT industry meetings.

It even hired some of the top developers involved with FHIR, an increasingly popular protocol for exchanging electronic health records, like former Epic Systems executive Sean Moore and Ricky Bloomfield, a physician from Duke University with a background in medical informatics.

According to CNBC:

Apple in recent months has been involved with discussions with health IT industry groups that are looking for ways to make this goal a reality, two of the people said.

These include "The Argonaut Project," a private sector initiative that is promoting the adoption of open standards for health information and "The Carin Alliance," an organization looking to give patients a central role in controlling their medical data.

Since iOS 10, the Health app has supported the Health Level 7 Continuity of Care Document (HL7 CCD) standard, which allows users to bring their own health records to the Health app. Users can share their records in an appropriate format with doctors.

Th Cupertino giant's new initiative, however, seems to be a lot broader in scope because, unlike the ability to store a limited snapshot of HL7 CCD records on the device, it would make sharing full medical data with hospitals and medical professionals a reality.

If successful, the company could easily solve one of the medical community's biggest problems—easy sharing of medical data and patient information between doctors, especially among different hospitals or clinics.

A March report said Apple has been working on a sensor for Apple Watch to non-invasively track blood glucose, a prototype of which Tim Cook is reportedly wearing on his body. Recently, the iPhone maker hired Stanford University's digital health efforts chief, Sumbul Desai.

Twitter revamped with dynamically updated Reply/Like/Retweet counts, Safari Reader support & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2017

Twitter today announced a major overhaul, making the app feel lighter, faster and easier to use with faster navigation via a new side menu, bolder headlines, revamped icons and more.

The new side navigation menu lets you quickly access your profile, accounts, settings and privacy. As a bonus, you can now add filters and stickers on your profile image, if you'd like.

Tweets now update dynamically with Reply, Retweet and Like counts so that you can easily see conversations as they’re happening, in real-time. The app now features support for opening links to articles and websites in Safari’s in-app viewer.

This lets you log in to websites using your saved Safari passwords and enjoy articles in the browser's Reader mode, all within the Twitter app.

New switches in Twitter's settings interface let you turn on increased color contrast, decided whether or not you'd like links to open in Safari's Reader View and more.

Accessibility settings are now in a more prominent location.

So fresh. So clean. So live.

Check out our new look.https://t.co/ClWbwi8CEH pic.twitter.com/nR27POQkEi

— Twitter (@Twitter) June 15, 2017

Here's an overview of the new features and design:

Profile, additional accounts, settings and privacy—all in one place. A new side navigation menu and fewer tabs at the bottom of our app=less clutter and easier browsing. You told us you loved this change on Android last year and we’re excited to now bring it to iOS. Links to articles and websites now open in Safari’s viewer in the Twitter app so you can easily access accounts on websites you’re already signed into (iOS only). We’ve refined our typography to make it more consistent and added bolder headlines to make it easier to focus on what’s happening. Also, rounded profile photos make it clearer to see what’s being said and who’s saying it. More intuitive icons make it easier to engage with Tweets—especially if you’re coming to Twitter for the first time. For example, people thought the Reply icon, an arrow, meant delete or go back to a previous page. We switched to a speech bubble, a symbol most know and love. We also made the icons lighter for more seamless interaction Tweets now update instantly with Reply, Retweet and Like counts so you can see conversations as they’re happening, live (not available on twitter.com and Twitter Lite).

The aforementioned changes are rolling out across twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, Twitter for Android, TweetDeck, and Twitter Lite over the coming days and weeks.

Twitter for iOS is a free download from App Store.

Facebook for iOS now lets everyone use animated GIFs in comments

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 2, 2018

Facebook today announced that users of its mainland mobile app can now use animated GIFs in comments. This sought-after feature has been enabled for all people on Facebook globally.

“We know people love communicating with GIFs on Messenger and we’re also making it easier to use GIFs on Facebook,” said the social network. When making a comment in Facebook for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, tap the new GIF button to spice up your message with animations.

Additionally, Facebook rolled out some new and exclusive GIFs they’ve created featuring some of the Internet’s biggest stars, including DNCE, Logan Paul, Amanda Cerny, DREEZY, Patrick Starr, Violet Benson, Wuz Good, Brandi Marie and Landon Moss.

To use them, search #GIFparty when sharing a GIF on Facebook or Messenger or visit GIPHY.com/Facebook.

Since rolling out support for animated GIFs on Messenger back in 2015, users have sent nearly thirteen billion GIFs in the last year alone via the messaging app, or nearly 25,000 GIFs every minute. GIF sends on Messenger have tripled in the past year and New Year’s Day 2017 was the most popular day ever for GIF sends on Messenger, with more than 400 million GIF sends.

Facebook for iOS is available at no charge in App Store.

Eleven: an upcoming collection of iOS 11-like jailbreak tweaks

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

If you’re jailbroken on iOS 10 and yearn to make your device look like it's running iOS 11, then you’re in luck because prominent developers are taking on a full-scale project to bring several iOS 11 features to the jailbreak community before the operating system update is released this Fall.

The project is being undertaken by iOS developers LaughingQuoll and Antique_Dev, and will be called Eleven. It will be a collection of multiple different jailbreak tweaks that each focus on specialized features of iOS.

Survey says people more likely to buy Amazon Echo than Apple HomePod

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 14, 2017

Having surveyed 2,200 adults in the United States, research firm Morning Consult Intelligence has found that one out of each three respondents showed interest in Apple's HomePod sight unseen, or approximately 33 percent.

However, “only” 30 percent were interested in the HomePod speaker after being shown a comparison chart with other smart speakers, namely Amazon's Echo and Google's Home.

Among those who already owned Apple products, 45 percent were interested in HomePod and 17 percent said they were most likely to buy it versus 18 percent of the Apple faithful who said they'd be more inclined to buy Amazon's Echo over Apple's device.

What about the overall survey group?

According to AppleInsider:

Within the overall survey group 17 percent said they were mostly like to buy an Echo, and 11 percent the cheaper Echo Dot. Only 9 percent said they would go for a HomePod, below the Google Home's 11 percent.

At $349, HomePod is pricier than Google's and Amazon's inexpensive speakers at $129 and $139, respectively. 57 percent of respondents said price was “Very Important” to them in a smart speaker while for 51 percent speaker quality was more important than the price.

Introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference last week, HomePod beats both Amazon's Echo and Google's Home in terms of audio quality. The device features a four-inch subwoofer system that delivers clean bass without distortion and as many as seven beam-forming tweeters, each using its own amplifier for sound quality.

Driven by Apple's A8 chip, HomePod provides sound awareness technology that's able to detect when the device is against walls. After mapping its surroundings, it adjusts the sound output accordingly so that the most of the sound is spread out into a wide-open area instead of being muffled against a wall.

We should point out that this isn't a totally fair research because HomePod is still work-in-progress and Apple has not really shown off any other features beyond Siri interactions, HomeKit controls and Apple Music integration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hw9skL-IXc

Even if HomePad makes its December debut with only the aforesaid features, Apple is almost certainly going to add additional capabilities over time via software updates, just as Google and Amazon have been doing with their smart home speakers.

Priced at $349, HomePod will launch in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia this December before gradually expanding to the rest of the world throughout 2018.

Hands-on with 10.5″ and 12.9″ iPad Pro: unboxing and first impressions

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 14, 2017

Introduced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last week, Apple's new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model and a second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro are now both available for purchase via company-owned retail stores around the world.

Our video reviewer Andrew O'Hara has managed to get his hands on these pro tablets. His hands-on video takes you through some of the headlining new features like the super bright, less reflective display with ProMotion technology at an insane 120Hz refresh rate and more.

Watch Andrew's video embedded below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mj2Oy-seGI

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If you're wondering about the brand of knife Andrew is using to cut through the cellophane, it's the Kershaw Reverb lightweight pocket knife (it's pretty cheap on Amazon).

According to iFixit's teardown analysis, the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model has four gigabytes of RAM, just like the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, which enables smoother multitasking.

The cameras on both new iPads are the same as those found on the iPhone 7 series (sans dual lenses and Portrait depth-of-field mode), meaning you're getting photography features like 12 megapixel photos, 4K video capture and more.

Other capabilities of these new tablets that are worth mentioning include a faster Touch ID authentication, Apple's A10X Fusion chip with 30 percent faster CPU and 40 percent faster GPU performance than the previous generation, plus much more.

The real story, of course, is iOS 11 which turns these new iPads into productivity powerhouses with such features as a dynamic Dock, a new app switcher, drag and drop, improved multitasking and more. Unfortunately, iOS 11 is currently being beta-tested and it won't release for public consumption before the fall.

Are you liking these new iPads?

Let us know in the comment section below.