Apple's $450 million e-books settlement gets final approval

A federal judge in New York has given final approval to a settlement in which Apple will pay $450 million for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices for ebooks.

Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan called the settlement “fair and reasonable.” It requires Apple to pay $400 million to consumers who bought certain books between 2010 and 2012, as well as $50 million in attorneys’ fees.

Although the settlement is final, Apple only has to pay that amount if it loses its appeal of a 2013 price-fixing ruling. If the appeal is successful, Apple will pay only $50 million to ebook purchasers and $20 million to attorneys.

A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Manhattan. Lawyers for the ebook buyers have said they “strongly believe” that Apple’s appeal won’t be successful.

Apple delivers another Yosemite beta as Wi-Fi issues persist

Apple has come out with a second beta of Mac OS X Yosemite for developers, but it’s not clear whether this latest build will address the Wi-Fi problems that continue to affect an undetermined but apparently substantial number of users.

With this build, labeled 10.10.2 (14C68k), Apple didn’t identify any specific problem areas it would like developers to focus on as they test the OS, according to multiple reports from news outlets and individuals with access to the release notes.

When Apple released the first beta of Yosemite a little over two weeks ago, it asked developers to pay particular attention to several issues, including Wi-Fi, which has been a constant source of complaints since the OS came out.

Mac won't boot? About Yosemite and your third-party SSD

About SSDs and LBA

An SSD writes small bits data to “pages,” and multiple pages make up blocks. The SSD uses something called Logical Block Addressing (LBA) to keep track of which pages and blocks have information on them. This is a kind of map that details which pages and blocks are and aren’t occupied with “good” data. When you delete information from an SSD, that information isn’t really deleted. Rather, a reference to it is removed from the LBA and it’s marked as invalid data. When the drive can’t find any remaining open pages, it looks for the pages that contain invalid data to erase to make room for the fresh stuff.

Mac users say Yosemite 10.10.1 update did nothing to fix Wi-Fi

Apple released Yosemite 10.10.1 on Monday to fix Wi-Fi problems that hundreds of Mac owners had reported since the operating system was released last month. But for many, the update did nothing to restore connectivity, and for some 10.10.1 caused Wi-Fi problems where none existed before.

Macworld readers their own issues with the Yosemite update, reflecting the current sentiment over on Apple’s support forums. A handful ofthreads on Apple’s Yosemite support forum indicate that 10.10.1 didn’t fix the problem of Wi-Fi connectivity dropping out, or if it did, Wi-Fi remains slow. Some users are resorting to Ethernet to get a connection.

Hints of Apple Watch apps emerge with WatchKit launch: Simplicity, 'light' interactions

With the launch of WatchKit for app developers, Apple has revealed a few more details on how the Apple watch will work.

WatchKit is the framework that developers will use to create Apple Watch apps. It's available now to developers as part of the iOS 8.2 SDK beta, along with new design guidelines that demonstrate how Watch apps should behave.

U.S. Customers Favoring iPhone 6 Over 6 Plus by 3:1 as 91% of Buyers Opt for Latest Models

Following the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus back in September, a new survey of U.S. customers by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) details the adoption rate of the first thirty days of the devices' lifespan. 

The survey data, shared in a research note published today by UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, indicates that 91 percent of iPhone owners bought either an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus in the first four weeks of launch, rising from 86 percent in the first two weeks. Uptake of the new models also compares favorably to last year's iPhone launch, which saw 84 percent of customers in the first thirty days opting for the iPhone 5s and 5c. 

Most of the increase in share for the new models since the initial launch period has come from the iPhone 6, which saw an increase of six percentage points to 68 percent, while the iPhone 6 Plus remains at around 23-24 percent of purchases, despite both facing high demand during their initial launch. The 3:1 ratio favoring the iPhone 6 over 6 Plus has come down slightly from early adoption rate data, but as highlighted by Apple's Greg Joswiak last month, the true balance of customer interest won't be known until production constraints, which more heavily affect the iPhone 6 Plus, are resolved. The balance will also vary significantly by country, with customers in Asian countries tending to prefer larger screens than those in other countries. The study by CIRP also measured future intentions on purchasing the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Of those asked, over 40 percent were planning to buy an iPhone 6 within the next year. Nineteen percent of Samsung users surveyed also plan to switch over to Apple for their next phone purchases, with over half of those intended purchases favoring the iPhone 6 Plus. While that marks a significant potential share gain for Apple, recent data has so far shown lower than expected shares of Android customers switching over to the iPhone 6. A more realistic picture will, however, come later as the surge of iPhone early adopters wanes. When the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in September, they sold over ten million units in their launch weekend, including 4 million first-day pre-orders. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also outpaced last year's nine million units of the iPhone 5s and 5c shipped in their opening weekend, but that figure is widely viewed as somewhat inflated by ample stocks of iPhone 5c units shipping into inventory channels.

Apple's Market Capitalization Sets First New Record High in Two Years at Over $660 Billion

Apple's market capitalization reached a record high today, breaking the $660 billion mark to sit in the range of $662-664 billion for much of the day's trading so far. The new high breaks a previous closing record of $658.15 billion set on September 19, 2012 and intraday high of nearly $661 billion reached two days later. Market capitalization measures the market value of a business and is calculated by multiplying the stock price by the number of available shares.

Apple comfortably leads all U.S. companies in market capitalization, with its closest competitors being Microsoftand Exxon, which have market capitalizations of just over $400 billion each. Fourth-place Google falls sits at roughly $370 billion. 

While Apple's share price has been routinely setting new records since surpassing its previous September 2012 high in August, it has taken a bit longer for Apple to return to its record market capitalization levels as the company's expanded stock buyback program has reduced the number of outstanding shares. 

Apple's stock has surged 17 percent in just the four weeks since Apple's October media event and subsequent earnings announcement where the company announced strong fiscal Q4 2014 earningsfueled by the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and record Mac sales. The company's share price is up approximately 50 percent over the past twelve months. 

Apple last quarter reported $8.5 billion in profit on $42.1 billion in revenue with sales of 39 million iPhones, 12.31 iPads and 5.5 million Mac units. While Mac and iPhone revenue climbed, iPad sales slumped with quarterly revenue dropping 14 percent year over year and 10 percent from the previous quarter. iPad sales are expected to temporarily rebound in the upcoming quarter following the introduction of the new iPad Air 2, with holiday season discounts expected to propel sales of Apple hardware. 

U.S. Government Warns iOS Users About 'Masque Attack' Vulnerability

The United States government today issued a bulletin warning iPhone and iPad users about the recent "Masque Attack" vulnerability, a security flaw that first surfaced on Monday of this week, reports Reuters. Masque Attack is a vulnerability that can allow malicious third-party iOS apps to masquerade as legitimate apps via iOS enterprise provision profiles. 

Written by the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Teams, the bulletin outlines how Masque Attack spreads -- luring users to install an untrusted app through a phishing link -- and what a malicious app is capable of doing.

An app installed on an iOS device using this technique may: 
-Mimic the original app's login interface to steal the victim's login credentials. 
-Access sensitive data from local data caches. 
-Perform background monitoring of the user's device. 
-Gain root privileges to the iOS device. 
-Be indistinguishable from a genuine app.

The post also advises iOS users to protect themselves by avoiding apps that have been installed from sources other than the App Store or an organization they're affiliated with, avoiding tapping "Install" on third-party pop-ups when viewing web pages, and tapping "Don't Trust" on any iOS app that shows an "Untrusted App Developer Alert." 

Masque Attack in action Computer security alerts issued by the government are fairly rare, and only 13 have been sent over the course of 2014. Other vulnerabilities that have prompted alerts include Heartbleed and an SSL 3.0 flaw called "Poodle." 

FireEye, the team that discovered Masque Attack, has notified Apple about the vulnerability, but it has not been patched in the recent iOS 8.1.1 beta thus far. It also affects iOS 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, and 8.1, and as of today, Apple has not yet commented on Masque Attack. 

Masque Attack, along with WireLurker, another vulnerability outlined earlier this month, is unlikely to affect the average iOS user so long as Apple's security features are not bypassed. Masque Attack works by circumventing the iOS App Store to install apps, while WireLurker is similar, infecting machines via third-party software downloaded outside of the Mac App Store. 

Both WireLurker and Masque Attack can be avoided by staying away from suspicious apps and avoiding links that prompt users to install apps outside of Apple's App Stores.

IOS 8 Now Installed on Nearly 60 Percent of Active iOS Devices

After seven and a half weeks of availability, Apple's mobile operating system is now installed on 56 percent of iOS devices, according to the lasted data posted on Apple's App Store support page for developers. 
iOS 8's installation numbers have increased approximately four percent over the past two weeks, which means iOS 8 adoption has jumped eight percent in the past month. During Apple's October 16 iPad event, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iOS 8 was installed on 48 percent of devices as of October 13. Before that, as of September 21, iOS 8 was installed on 46 percent of devices, indicating that adoption is steadily increasing after several weeks of stagnation.

The boost in iOS 8 adoption follows the October 20 release of iOS 8.1, which included several new features like Apple Pay that likely have enticed users to upgrade. Other desired features included SMS Forwarding, Instant Hotspot, iCloud Photo Library beta access and the return of the Camera Roll. 

iOS 8's initial release was plagued by a number of bugs that may have scared some users away. All HealthKit-enabled apps were pulled from the App Store prior to the launch of iOS 8 due to a major HealthKit bug. iOS 8.0.1, a fix to that issue, introduced new bugs that disabled cellular service and Touch ID for thousands of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users. iOS 8.0.2 was soon released, fixing the bugs of the previous release but introducing several other bugs. And finally, iOS 8.1 fixed many more issues with the previous updates, providing the most stable version of iOS 8 yet.

Apple-owned Beats Electronics Introduces New $300 Solo2 Wireless Headphones

Following the appearance of a regulatory filing last week, Beats Electronics today announced the launch of its new Solo2 Wireless on-ear headphones, the first product release since Apple's acquisition of Beats officially closed. The new headphones are a wireless version of the wired Solo2 headphones introduced the day after the Apple-Beats deal was announced. 

Solo2 Wireless offers the same dynamic sound and streamlined design as Solo2, but with the added benefit of wireless capabilities. With its Bluetooth technology, Solo2 Wireless can move freely for up to 30 feet from your audio device. Take phone calls, skip songs, and change the volume using the “b” button and volume buttons on the ear cup. Its rechargeable battery allows you to enjoy up to 12 hours of wireless playback. Not charged? Not a problem. Just plug in the provided RemoteTalkTM cable and enjoy your music.The new Solo2 Wireless headphones, which are available in red, black, white, and blue, will be available through Apple and other retailers later this month at a retail price of $299.95. The red version is a Verizon Wireless exclusive through the end of 2014. Alongside the launch of the Solo2 Wireless headphones, Beats is also announcing new "Royal Edition" color options for the wired version of Solo2. The Royal Edition includes a "satin, iridescent finish" in Stone Grey, Hunter Green, Imperial Violet, Blush Rose, or Sapphire Blue, available later this month at the same $199.95 pricing as the original Solo2 headphones.

Staples Begins Accepting Apple Pay in Retail Stores

If you're the owner of the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, you might have heard that with iOS 8.1 that Apple has enabled the use of Apple Pay, the Cupertino company's newly launched mobile payment service. Now there are many places in the US where Apple Pay can be used, but if you're the type that shops at Staples every now and then, you might be pleased to learn that the retailer has begun accepting ApplePay.

The retailer had recently made an announcement stating that all of its 1,400 US retail outlets will begin to accept Apple Pay, which of course will require users to own the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. The payments can be made through the store's iOS app which basically also allows users of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 to make secure payments.

So far it seems that Apple Pay appears to be quite a success, despite the fact that there are some big name retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy who will not be using the service as they are part of the MCX group which plans on launching their own mobile payment service, CurrentC, in 2015.

Apple has also recently set their sights in overseas markets such as China which they consider to be a key market. It was recently revealed that Apple and Alibaba were in talks about how Apple could potentially use Alibaba's back-end services to power Apple Pay in the country.

Apple Have Sent Out iOS 8.1.1 Beta To Developers

iOS 8.1 is only a couple of weeks old, but Apple has already seeded a beta of iOS 8.1.1 to developers.

Launched on Monday, the new beta carries with it various bug fixes and performance improvements, according to the release notes. No specific details have been revealed. And since it's a minor update, we probably won't see anything earthshaking added to Apple's mobile OS.

But one change concerns the Health app introduced in iOS 8, as noted by AppleInsider. Specifically, the display of blood glucose data has been temporarily disabled for the app. Disabling that data for for now will allow Apple to support devices that display the information in a unit of measurement known as mmol/L, or millimoles per liter, which is a standard way of measuring such levels.

Since this is just the initial beta of iOS 8.1.1, Apple may have more to add before the final release rolls out to users. But the company appears to be set with iOS 8.1 for now following a series of bugs and mishaps with prior versions of iOS 8.

Released on September 17, iOS 8 was saddled with some technical problems that prompted Apple to launch iOS 8.0.1 a week later. But 8.0.1 was even more problematic as users soon started griping that they could no longer use the Touch ID fingerprint sensor or connect to cell networks.

As a result, Apple was forced to pull the new update and push out iOS 8.0.2. That version appeared to resolve most of the issues, though some users still complained of Bluetooth connectivity failures among other things.

Apple rolled out iOS 8.1 on October 20. That version corrected the Bluetooth problem as well as a number of other glitches. However, some people have still reported issues with Wi-Fi, the performance of the Safari browser, and the usual battery drain. So iOS 8.1.1 may address some of these items.

iOS 8.1 also unveiled support for Apple Pay, the company's new mobile payment service, and brought back the Camera Roll feature so that people can more easily view their photos.

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Police Can Now force you to unlock Your iphone with Touch ID

The FBI and other government agencies are already up-in-arms following the introduction of increased mobile security measures in iOS 8 and Android 5.0 Lollipop. However, the government may have another way to force users to turn over mobile data: through fingerprint readers.

A court in Virginia recently ruled that, while an end-user cannot be forced to enter a password or passcode to unlock his or her device if police ask him or to, Touch ID is a completely different scenario. In this case, the court ruled that turning over DNA evidence can be forced by police officers and, since Touch ID requires a fingerprint, that could be used in this scenario.

This is one court ruling for one lawsuit, so it's not an overarching law that's been put in place by the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's an issue that's already becoming a reality. Owners of Apple devices outfitted with Touch ID, such as the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, can thwart this possible would-be legal obligation by turning off the device entirely, or by using a passcode instead of Touch ID.

“It's just a good wake-up call for people to realize that fingerprint ID doesn't necessarily provide the same sort of legal protection than a password does,” Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Hanni Fakhoury explained to Mashable.

Of course, the whole benefit of Touch ID is that it makes unlocking your device and making purchases much easier and pretty much effortless. Arguably, the court should rule that a phone locked with Touch ID should be just as protected from government eyeballs as one that is locked using another method, but that may never happen. Touch ID users: beware.

Pangu Untethered Jailbreak Has Been Updated For iOS 8.1

Any and all activity on the jailbreak front these days is courtesy of a Chinese team known as Pangu. It emerged on the scene not too long ago and has been pretty active in providing an iOS 8.0.x and iOS 8.1 jailbreak for all supported devices. The first version of this jailbreak was meant for developers and it didn't include Cydia but Pangu has now come out with an updated version of the tool which brings Cydia as well.

For those who don't know Cydia is basically the alternative App Store that jailbroken iOS devices can access. It provides applications, themes, wallpapers and tweaks which are otherwise not allowed on a stock iOS device.

The updated Pangu tool brings untethered jailbreak for all iOS 8.0-8.1 devices and it also fixes an issue on some iOS devices that would cause them to heat up. The devices include iPod touch 5G, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, iPad 2, 3 and 4 as well as the first generation iPad mini.

Those who jailbreak their device should keep in mind that it does void the warranty, but its easy to reverse a jailbreak, doing a clean software install on your device will remove all traces of it ever having been jailbroken.

Only one caveat exists with Pangu, its only available for Windows at this point in time.