iPhone

How do we identify and discard energy-inefficient apps? According to two Stanford computer scientists, the solution lies in another app. Adam Oliner and Jacob Leverich designed a program called Normal to tell you which other apps you ought to kill. It’s a telling problem that iOS message boards are plagued by constant complaints of mysteriously Continue Reading →

A pair of Apple patent applications discovered on Thursday describe a system that automatically determines when and where a user parks their car, and later directs them back to the vehicle without requiring a data connection or GPS signal. As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s applications for “Automatic identification of vehicle Continue Reading →

How’s the ticker? Some dangerous heart problems can exist without any symptoms whatsoever, like “atrial fibrillation” (A-fib) a type of abnormal cardiac rhythm that affects one in four people. A visit to your physician is normally required to detect it (and is still a must), but a company called AliveCor has just announced that its Continue Reading →

Tesla owners have been looking forward to OS 6.0, a software update for their vehicles, for a while now, but it’s finally rolling out to vehicle owners, reports Electrek. The system adds a bunch of new features for Model S vehicles, including a new Calendar app for in-car use, and big improvements to the Maps/Navigation Continue Reading →

If you really want to be able to emulate the characters in Apple’s promotional videos then you need to be able to tell Siri to “call mom” and “email dad.” Thanks to the custom label field built into iCloud contacts, you can assign any kind of relationship to people you know. Tell Siri about your Continue Reading →

When Apple announced the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011, the headlines were not about its speedy A5 chip or improved camera. Instead they focused on an unusual new feature: an intelligent assistant, dubbed Siri. At first Siri, endowed with a female voice, seemed almost human in the way she understood what you said to Continue Reading →

The skies are threatening to pour on the Apple solar farm but as the woman in-charge of the company’s environmental initiatives points out: the panels are still putting out some power. Apple is still greening its act. The company, which once drew fire from campaigners for working conditions in China and heavy reliance on fossil Continue Reading →

Apple has published new information about the diagnostic capabilities of iOS, in what appears to be a response to suggestions that it includes a ‘backdoor’ that could enable governments and other third-parties to access user data. The controversy arose after security consultant Jonathan Zdziarski documented a vulnerability that could leave usage data on iOS device Continue Reading →

Apple’s reportedly put in its biggest order yet for new iPhones, says The Wall Street Journal. While numerous reports have said production of Apple’s next iPhone models is set for August, The Journal now says it’s going to the largest ever, with somewhere between 70 to 80 million units. That number will be split up Continue Reading →

Forensic scientist and author Jonathan Zdziarski has posted the slides from his talk at the Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE/X) conference in New York called Identifying Backdoors, Attack Points, and Surveillance Mechanisms in iOS Devices. The HOPE conference started in 1994 and bills itself as “one of the most creative and diverse hacker events in Continue Reading →