Microsoft bypasses carriers to deliver early Windows Phone updates

Microsoft may have only just announced Windows Phone 8 Update 3, but the company plans to start delivering it to developers later today. After over a year in the making, Microsoft is finally launching its Windows Phone Preview for developers. The program will provide registered developers with early access to Windows Phone 8 updates, bypassing the complex and lengthy carrier testing process. Microsoft is specifically targeting developers with this program, but for $19 a year any Windows Phone 8 user can sign up and get early access to updates. Even registered Windows Phone App Studio developers will be able to get early access.

Windows Phone 8 users that are registered developers or have a developer-unlocked device will be able to download a Windows Phone Preview for Developers app that enables the early access to updates. There are no restrictions on phone type, only that existing Windows Phone 8 handsets have General Distribution Release 2 (GDR2) installed in order to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 Update 3. After the special app is installed, phones will then update through the normal software update process. While this is the quickest way to access updates, and is similar to how Apple provides early access to iOS developers, Microsoft warns it may void any warranty with a mobile operator or device manufacturer.

YOU MAY HAVE TO TRADE YOUR WARRANTY FOR EARLY UPDATES

If a Windows Phone user opts to install the pre-release updates then they’ll have to wait until the update is released publicly to be in a “released state” as there’s no way to restore back to an older version of Windows Phone 8. The pre-release updates only contain Microsoft’s portion of the update, and the software maker isn’t rolling out any firmware or driver changes alongside its own OS update. Today’s update will bring 1080p display support for unreleased devices, rotation lock, a new Driving Mode, and much more.

Microsoft isn’t detailing how it plans to handle future updates through the Windows Phone Preview program, but it’s possible the company may take an Apple approach and place developers under NDA to provide early access to upcoming updates. Today’s announcement is focused on allowing developers to test apps on real devices ahead of the OS update roll out over the coming weeks. It also provides Microsoft with a way to address the growing frustration over carrier delayed Windows Phone updates. Enthusiasts now have a way to update their handsets before AT&T and others have finished testing the software. It’s a win win for both developers and Windows Phone users.

Macs down, PCs up

U.S. Mac sales fell in the third quarter, while PC sales largely rebounded.

Here’s something unexpected: Of the five major PC makers in the United States, Apple was the only one whose shipments fell last quarter.

Overall U.S. PC shipments grew by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to tech consultancy Gartner. While Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), Lenovo and Toshiba all grew their shipments over last year, Apple’s fell by 2.3%.

It might be even worse than that. If you ask Gartner’s rival consultancy IDC, Macintosh shipments fell by more than 11%.

Apple’s Macintosh shipments are difficult to estimate. We won’t get an official number until Apple (AAPL,Fortune 500) releases its quarterly financial statement on Oct. 28.

But the Mac’s decline is perplexing. It could be attributable to the fact that Apple hasn’t issued a major update to its MacBook Air line in nearly two years, and it has devoted most of its energies towards the iPhone and iPad. Still, Apple hit a company high for PC market share just a year ago, capturing 14.2% of the market. This year, it only has 13.4% of the market.

Related story: Microsoft Surface 2 is hardly an afterthought

For Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) Windows PC makers, the positive numbers are better than expected but not terribly surprising. The third quarter is when PC makers begin their big “back to school” marketing push in the United States, and Windows 8 has had nearly a year to make its way onto PCs.

The growth in PC shipments was enough to give Gartner analyst Mikakio Kitagawa some hope that the industry could be ready to take a breather from its three-year slump. And though tablets may still be on the rise, the PC could be finding its footing once again.

 

 “The U.S. market may have passed the worst declining stage,” said Kitagawa in a statement. “Tablets will continue to impact the PC market, but the U.S. PC market will see a more moderate decrease rather than a steep decline in the next two years.”

Worldwide, the PC market faced a different story. Though the three largest PC manufacturers managed squeeze out shipment gains, the rest of the industry wasn’t so lucky. Global PC sales fell nearly 9% year over year, according to Gartner.

That’s not nearly as bad as the 14% decline the market experienced last quarter, but it’s a big decline nonetheless.

Lenovo, HP and Dell grew PC shipments by between 1% and 3% globally. But Asus and Acer weren’t so lucky, each victims of a double digit backslide. 

German hackers say old technique can bypass Apple’s Touch ID

A high-quality scan of a person’s finger and a bit of latex an old technique

can defeat Touch ID, the Chaos Computer Club claims

Apple’s Touch ID authentication system can be defeated using a well-honed technique

for creating a latex copy of someone’s fingerprint, according to a German hacking group.

Apple’s Touch ID authentication system can be defeated using a well-honed technique for

creating a latex copy of someone’s fingerprint, according to a German hacking group.

The Chaos Computer Club (CCC), which hosts an annual hacking conference and publishes

computer security research, wrote on its blog that their experiment shows that fingerprint

authentication “should be avoided.”

Apple introduced Touch ID with its latest high-end iPhone 5S on Sept. 10. A person’s

“fingerprint is one of the best passcodes in the world. It’s always with you, and no two are

exactly alike,” according to the company’s website.

A hacker who goes by the name Starbug found that while Touch ID scans at a higher

resolution, it can be beaten by increasing the resolution of the victim’s fingerprint.

The CCC posted a video of what it wrote is a successful attack. Faking the print involves

photographing the victim’s fingerprint at 2400 DPI. The image is inverted and laser printed

at 1200 DPI onto a transparent sheet using a “thick toner setting,” according to the CCC.

Pink latex milk or white wood glue is smeared into the pattern created the toner. After it cures,

a sliver of latex is lifted from the sheet, and blowing on it gives a bit of moisture like that on a

human finger. It then can be placed on the iPhone’s fingerprint sensor, the CCC wrote.

The technique is not new. “This process has been used with minor refinements and variations

against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market,” the CCC wrote. Apple officials did

not have an immediate comment on the CCC’s findings.

Security experts have long warned that fingerprint authentication should not be solely relied upon,

but rather used in concert with other technologies. Photos of fingerprints and molds have

successfully bypassed fingerprint checks.

Touch ID is intended to reduce the number of times a person must enter a passcode, but Apple

still requires a passcode in some circumstances, such as restarting the phone and if the devices

hasn’t been unlocked in two days.

Changes to the fingerprint settings also require a passcode, which can be configured to be longer

and more complex than four digits.

 

Apple updates Apple TV with iTunes Radio

Apple released a software update for its Apple TV box Friday, adding iTunes Radio as well as features like playing content from iTunes in the cloud instead of your Airplay device.

The over-the-air update comes two days after the rollout of iOS 7, the computer maker’s most comprehensive change to its mobile operating system since it was introduced six years ago. That added iTunes Radio to Apple devices like iPads and iPhones as well.

The new software for Apple TV also adds the iTunes Music Store to purchase music directly on the television and AirPlay from iCloud, which lets Apple TV play content from iTunes in the Cloud instead of your AirPlay device when possible, along with other updates.

Ahead of an event last week that unveiled the new iPhone 5C and 5S, reports first raised anticipation that Apple had a new set-top box on deck after long neglecting the device from any significant refresh. But later, the company’s TV plans for the event were said to be limited to a simple software update that might, among other things, let one person’s Apple-purchased content stream on another person’s Apple TV.

But no news on Apple’s TV ambitions came out of the unveiling.

The $99 streaming box itself has been low on the company’s totem pole since Chief Executive Tim Cook took over as chief two years ago. Recently, Apple TV’s incremental improvements have been limited to bulking up with desirable channels, adding Vevo, Disney, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, Watch ESPN, and Sky News.

iPad 5: Everything we think we know about the specs, release date, and price of the next iPad

The iPhone 5S is out! What’s next? The 5th generation iPad of course.

 

It is highly likely a new iPad will be unveiled by Apple in mid-October. The fourth-generation iPad was first shown at an event in October 2012, a few weeks after the iPhone 5’s unveiling, and rumors point to a repeat of Apple’s 2012 late-game shenanigans.

 

What we know

Officially? Nothing. Apple hasn’t said one word about its next iteration of the full-size iPad.

 

What we think know

 

When will it will be announced?
Rumors currently point to an October 15 event.

 

Its case design
According to pictures posted by Sonny Dickson, the fifth-generation iPad isn’t too dissimilar from the current design of the iPad Mini. The case is narrower than the iPad 4, has thinner bezels, with more-rounded edges, and according to KGI Securities analyst Mingchi Kuo, it’s said to be about 15 percent thinner and 25 percent lighter than the iPad 4.

 

While the rumored case design wouldn’t be a radical change, it would address a few annoyances about the iPad 4’s look and feel. Namely, its much too sharp edges, wide width, and body corpulence. A more-rounded iPad 5 could mean an iPad 5 that’s much more comfortable to hold.

 

It won’t be larger than 9.7 inches
Although Apple is reportedly testing larger screen sizes — up to 13 inches — for future versions of the iPad, it would appear that we wouldn’t see a release of a larger iPad until 2014 at the earliest.

 

It won’t be any more or less expensive
With the iPhone 5S, Apple kept its normal pricing structure — a $199 starting price for the subsidized model — and if pricing history is anything to go by, the base-level 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad 5 will start at $499.

 

The purported casings for the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2.

 

When can we expect a release?
Probably early November, same as last year.

 

 

What we want to see

 

Much of my iPad wish list was covered above, but here are a few more things I’d love to see Apple throw in for good measure. Just to be clear, a fingerprint scanner on the iPad isn’t something I’m particularly excited about.

 

An upgraded A7 (A7X) processor
The iPhone 5S’ A7 is a powerful piece of silicon, but if history is anything to go by it will pale in comparison to the iPad 5’s expected A7X. With a larger higher-resolution screen, the iPad 5’s GPU has more pixels to render, which means more work and a higher bandwidth requirement.

 

So, don’t be surprised if we see a few extra GPU cores in the A7X.

 

A better camera
Look, much to my embarrassment, people still use their iPads to take pictures in the exact manner as they would their smartphones. It’s not going to stop, so Apple might as well lean into it and give these budding awkward-looking photographers something to get excited about.

 

The slim bezel of the iPad 5. Probably.

 

Hopefully, the iPad 5’s camera receives the bulk of upgrades from the iPhone 5S, including slow-mo, improved low-light exposure, and some “True Tone” action for more-balanced flash.

 

Longer battery life or faster charging
As demand for a thinner lighter iPad increases, so does the difficulty in fitting a larger longer-lasting battery in its casing. Apple gave the iPhone 5S only a slight bump in battery life over the iPhone 5, so I’m keeping my iPad 5 battery life improvement expectations low.

 

However, let’s not overlook the importance of charging speed. Right now it takes several hours to charge an iPad 4 from 0 percent to full capacity. I’d love to see this time receive a significant cutting.

Clamor for new gold iPhone gets serious

Some shoppers abandoned Apple’s flagship store on Friday morning after being told there were no more gold iPhone 5s models for sale.

 

A lack of supply of the high-end iPhone 5s models may crimp first-weekend sales for Apple at a time when Wall Street is questioning the company’s strategy amid rising competition in the smartphone market.

Szczerba and his Yeti colleague Kevin Cox ended up getting the “space gray” iPhone 5s, because Apple had run out of both the gold and silver models by the time they got in line at 7:50 a.m. PT.

Ashish Gupta, an executive at Applauze, a ticketing and events app that competes with eBay’s Stubhub, has been to every iPhone launch and on Friday morning he surveyed people waiting line outside the Palo Alto store.

Apple gives out cards to each shopper in line showing what iPhone model they are waiting for — to make sure people don’t wait for ages and then get inside to find the model they want has sold out.

Gupta counted the cards at the front of the line and found that the iPhone 5s gold model was the most popular. But Apple handed out no more than 50 cards for this model. After that, there were no more available to sell, he noted.

The popularity of the gold iPhone suggests that consumers are yearning for a new form factor, Gupta said. The gold color makes it clear that the owner has the new iPhone, whereas other models may look too similar to the old iPhone 5.

“The techies know the new 5s is amazing. But for the masses there needs to be something more obvious,” he added.

Indeed, a group of five San Jose State University students waiting in line at the Palo Alto store said they all wanted the gold 5s, but had to get the gray model instead.

“Gold is more unique — not a lot of people have an iPhone like this,” said Brian, one of the students. He declined to give his full name.

Yep, That’s Really Apple CEO Tim Cook On Twitter

Yes, Apple CEO Tim Cook has started tweeting. The account, which we at TechCrunch (and everyone else following Twitter’s magical recommendations service @MagicRecs) spotted this afternoon, is now confirmed by Twitter. Initially, it did not have the standard blue “verification” check mark, which is why there could have been some doubt — high-profile individuals often see fake accounts spring up claiming to be the person in question.

But Tim Cook’s account appeared to be the real deal, especially since Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller, who does have a verified account on Twitter, retweeted him.

Cook identified himself on the service as “CEO Apple,” a “Fan of Auburn football and Duke basketball,” and being from “Cupertino.” At the time of writing, Cook’s account has more than 30,000 followers. The account was originally created in July 2013.

As to Cook’s first tweet? It’s just a mention that he was greeting customers at Apple’s Palo Alto retail stores today, which had been reported earlier by a number of news outlets. (Schiller and SVP Eddie Cue were there as well, giving further credence to the tweet’s veracity, ahead of the official confirmation.)

Of course, news of Cook’s newfound fondness for Twitter comes as the company is launching a series of new iPhones, with the candy-colored iPhone 5c models aiming at affordability, and the faster, fingerprint ID-laden iPhone 5s models, including the popular “golden” iPhone, attracting Apple’s more high-end customers.

Apple has historically held a close relationship with Twitter over the years, too. It went with Twitter as the main third-party authentication and sharing service in iOS 5, and didn’t get around to integrating Facebook until iOS 6. Now, in iOS 7, the integration between the two companies continues. Apple’s assistant Siri can search Twitter for tweets about people or topics. Its web browser, Safari, incorporates something called “Shared Links” to highlight news that’s making the rounds on Twitter’s network, and the Music app will display songs trending on Twitter through the Twitter #music station on iOS 7′s iTunes Radio.

Cook’s Twitter account isn’t the only new account to come out of Apple this week: It also launched the Twitter account @iTunes to accompany iOS 7′s launch, and its latest tweet is even showing up as “Promoted” (i.e. a Twitter ad).

iOS 7 Lock Screen Vulnerability Discovered Which Gives Access To Photos And Social Sharing, Apple Is Working On Fix

Vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS lock screens have become a fixture of new iOS releases over the past few years, and iOS 7 is not exempt. A new method for bypassing the passcode on a lock screen has been discovered by idle hands.

The lock screen bypass method involves sliding up Control Center, tapping on the timer button and holding down the power button until the cancel option comes up. You then tap on the cancel button then double-tap the home button. This gives you access to the multitasking UI. While most apps are locked out, the Camera option is accessible.

This allows you to access the camera interface, but with the ability to scroll through all of the owner’s photos, not just the ones shot in the time since the phone was last locked — in the manner that the camera has worked for some time now.

Not only can you scroll through the photos, but you can also tap on the share button to send photos out via email or social channels like Twitter or Facebook. So once you’re in you can post photos to Flickr or send them via email. Though Greenberg characterizes this as ‘hijacking’ those accounts, that seems a bit dramatic. Still, there is potential for embarrassment or harm if sensitive (ahem) photos get stolen or shared out through your social accounts.

The bypass method has been verified by us to work properly and to not be overly difficult to execute. It took me about three tries to get it right on an iPhone 5 running iOS 7. As Greenberg notes, it’s hard to tell whether this works on an iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s as of yet. Of note: once you’re on the share sheet, you can choose a contact to send the item to, technically gaining access to the contact list (but not their details) of the device’s owner.

Note that this vulnerability is incredibly easy to prevent for now. Just visit Settings>Control Center and toggle off ‘Access on Lock Screen’ to patch it up.

The discovery was made by Jose Rodriguez, a soldier in Spain’s Canary Islands, who has a history of discovering these tricky bypass methods. His secret? Plenty of time waiting in cars in his former job as a driver for government officials.

With past vulnerabilities, a software fix has come in a ‘point’ release of iOS 7. iOS 7.0.1 is already floating out there and contains a fix for Apple’s TouchID fingerprint scanner. So any fix for this would likely come in iOS 7.0.2 or later.

Apple has added a variety of security features to iOS 7, including Activation Lock, which renders stolen phones unusable, even if they’re wiped. But it looks like it needs another lock screen audit just to be sure.

Update: Apple Spokesperson Trudy Muller told TechCrunch that “Apple takes user security very seriously. We are aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update.”

So, yes, the fix for this little bug will come in a future point release of iOS 7.

Apple releases iOS 7, now available for all to download.

Just as promised, Apple on Wednesday released the final version of its brand new iOS 7 operating system to the public. The new mobile software is available immediately for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad (third and fourth generations), iPad 2, iPad mini and iPod touch (fifth generation). We called iOS 7 a major renovation that for the most part lacked real innovation when we previewed the software back in June. In our full iOS 7 review earlier this week, however, we explained why that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

UPDATE: iOS 7.0.1 has already been released for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, according to 9to5Mac. The update fixes a Touch ID bug and users will be prompted to update as soon as they receive their new devices.

iOS 7 represents the biggest overhaul to Apple’s massively popular mobile operating system since it debuted in 2007, and now it’s finally available to the public. It also lays the groundwork for some real innovation in future iOS versions, and many will be waiting anxiously to be wowed by more than just a new design in iOS 8 next year.

Last year when Apple released iOS 6, more than 100 million people installed the update within its first week of availability. As such, patience will likely be a virtue since Apple’s servers will undoubtedly be hammered in the hours and days to come as people seek out the latest and greatest Apple has to offer.

Some key features in Apple’s new iOS 7 software include the redesigned Notification Center, the brand new Control Center that provides quick access to various apps and settings, a new app switcher interface, AirDrop file-sharing, iTunes Radio and of course a fresh new look that users seem to prefer by a wide margin over iOS’s old interface.

The brand new iOS 7 update can be installed over the air (OTA) by opening the Settings app on your device and tapping on General > Software Update and following the on-screen instructions. iOS 7 can also be downloaded shortly via iTunes, and it requires Apple’s newly released iTunes 11.1 update in order to install. iTunes 11 can be download from Apple’s website.

Be sure to check out our full review of iOS 7, which can be found here.

Samsung backs Apple’s 64-bit chip smartphone chip switch

Samsung has confirmed its next high-end smartphones will feature 64-bit processors.

The announcement follows the launch of the iPhone 5S, the first handset to include the technology.

Apple boasted its A7 chip offered “desktop-class architecture”.

However, experts say most apps are unlikely to see much immediate benefit from the shift from 32-bit tech and that it could introduce compatibility problems in the future.

The Android operating system would need to be updated before Samsung’s Galaxy devices could take advantage of a shift to 64-bit.
Faster work

The number of bits in relation to a microprocessor affects the size of the numbers that can be handled by its registers – the tiny bits of memory on the processing chip itself. Those numbers are then used to address RAM (random-access memory).

In the case of 32-bit architecture, the amount of memory than can be addressed is two to the power of 32, in other words 4.3 billion values.

In the case of 64-bit architecture the processor can theoretically address 18,400,000 trillion values.

As a result, operating systems written for 32-bit chips can only access up to 4GB of RAM, but those written for 64-bit processors can, in theory, support up to 16 billion gigabytes of RAM.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

When app makers do decide to transition to fully 64-bit, it will create a divide in the market”

Chris Green Davies Murphy Group

If a program has been written to take advantage of a 64-bit operating system, it should mean the processor can access data that is in this larger memory rather than retrieving it from, for example, the hard disk.

This speeds up the whole processing chain.

However, including more RAM also makes the equipment more expensive and power-hungry.

For that reason, smart-device makers have tended to shy away from taking advantage of 32-bit chips’ upper RAM limit.

Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Note 3 handset goes the furthest, with 3GB of RAM. The device also features a bigger-than-normal 3,200 mAh battery.
Incompatible apps

Samsung Electronic’s co-chief executive announced its plan to use 64-bit chips, in an interview with the Korea Times newspaper.

“Not in the shortest time,” said Shin Jong-kyun. “But yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality.”
Apple iPhone launch Apple dedicated part of its iPhone 5S launch to highlighting its shift to a 64-bit processor

However, bearing in mind there will remain many iOS and Android handsets on the market that still rely on 32-bit chips, this may deter developers from taking advantage of the switch in the short-term.

“People who have the old 32-bit processors will not be able to run software that is built specifically for the 64-bit processors because the latter uses a different instruction set,” explained Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey’s computing department.

“However, if people write in 32-bit, it will run on many of the 64-bit processors because they still support the old instruction set.

“So, you can get the whole market by writing the app in 32-bits, but you can only get a very small part of the market if you write specifically for 64-bits.”

One solution to this is to use what is called a “fat binary”, a program containing code tailored to both types of processor. However, apps that do this become bigger and therefore take up more storage space.

Once sales of the new devices do grow, makers of video games and software to create 3D-animations might be among the first to make the switch since their programs are among the most processor-intensive and thus most likely to see the biggest benefit.

One iPhone and Android developer welcomed the move.

“Yes, many apps won’t be able to take advantage of 64-bit at the outset,” said Stephen Lum from Visual Candy Apps.

“But the beauty of what Apple did is that they said it takes an iOS developer, like me, two hours to convert to 64-bit. That is awesome.”

However, one industry watcher warned that the switch might create compatibility problems for devices using older types of chip once developers started releasing apps that only worked on 64-bit processors.

“When app makers do decide to transition to fully 64-bit, it will create a divide in the market,” said Chris Green, from the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

“We saw exactly the same thing happen in the Windows world when software makers moved from 32-bit to purely 64-bit.”
Rise of ARM

For now British chip designer ARM may prove the biggest beneficiary.
ARM processors ARM’s shares rose following news that Apple was licensing its 64-bit chip architecture

Smart-device makers are able to offer 64-bit tech because they have licensed the firm’s ARMv8 architecture, which it first announced in 2011. The design includes other elements which should also boost processing power.

The news means the company will enjoy bigger fees. ARM’s share price has risen about 10% since the start of the week.

Some have speculated that Apple’s announcement might foreshadow the US firm ditching Intel chips in its laptops and desktop computers and moving to its own processors.

“Apple’s new A7 chip is not powerful enough to be a PC chip, but the architecture is going that way,” said Prof Woodward.

“They might be readying themselves. I think this is the beginning of a long road.”