A security researcher has discovered that Apple analytics data is collected and sent from iPhones, whether or not users consented during the setup process. The amount of data collected was described by the researcher as “shocking.” A class action lawsuit has now filed, which says that Apple’s privacy promises are “completely illusory” … Background The discovery was made by developer and security researcher Tommy Mysk, who previously found that many Apple apps bypass VPN connections when sending data to Apple....

Seemingly in response to a recent spotlight on scammy apps that aim to confuse users in taking up free trials that turn into expensive recurring subscriptions, Apple is reassessing and pulling apps with highly priced subscriptions (via Forbes). In particular, Apple appears to be rejecting apps that prominently feature buttons to start free trials … which attempt to hide the reality that the free trial will convert into a costly recurring subscription when the trial ends....

It seems that not a day can go by without another potential Apple Car maker finding itself the subject of speculation, and this time it seems to be Nissan’s turn. The Japanese carmaker has seen its share price rise despite downgrading its revenue expectations for the current fiscal year … The WSJ also notes that the company has strongly hinted it would be open to a deal. To be fair, it’s not the first time Nissan has been in the frame – CNN listed it among the possibilities a couple of days ago – but the CEO’s remarks have pushed it higher in the rumor stakes....

Apple has confirmed to Reuters that it will open its first retail store in Taiwan, as job listings are spotted for all the usual retail positions. The store is expected to open in the capital, Taipei, but the precise location or date are not yet known. Start dates for some of the positions are shown as September, which normally come some months ahead of the store opening. Taiwan falls within Apple’s Greater China region, along with mainland China itself, Hong Kong and Macau....

Apple Education is launching three different #MadeOniPad challenges for educators and students to discover new teaching and learning methods using Apple’s tablet. This creativity challenge focuses on the “Green Screen Challenge,” “Podcast Challenge,” and “Motion Graphics Challenge.” Apple Distinguished Educator Jacob Woolcock’s challenge is about students using green-screen effects in their lessons with the iMovie app. Discover exciting new ways to use iPad for teaching and learning. Made by educators in the Apple Teacher community, each challenge below is designed to spark creativity for you, your colleagues, and your students....

Apple today further expanded its ongoing legal battle against Qualcomm. According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple has now sued Qualcomm in a U.K. court over the same patent and royalty dispute that prompted lawsuits in other countries, including the United States. The report notes that the lawsuit was filed today and cites a claim on patents and registered designs. At this point, however, there aren’t any specific details as to how broad Apple’s lawsuit against Qualcomm is in the U....

Apple took 4.6 per cent of the world market for laptops putting the company into seventh place, states DigiTimes, up from its previous number eight position. As the wider market grew 35 per cent, Apple’s sales nearly doublied to to 1.43-million portables from 891,000 units in Q1 2007, the report explains. Apple has also been explained as up 61 per cent in the second quarter overall, Mac sales overall climbed 51 per cent, year-on-year, a rate of growth an astonishing 3....

With the iPhone 8 expected to embed a fingerprint sensor into the display to allow much smaller top and bottom bezels, there’s no doubt that Apple has the technology required to make this possible. We’ve seen a steady stream of patents describing different ways to achieve this. One of the technologies Apple has explored is ultrasonic imaging. A previous patent described this as ‘the most accurate but least common finger-scanning technology,’ and a further patent describing this approach has been granted today....

Adding to its list of recent hires, Apple has tapped a former Hewlett-Packard executive to tackle sales of its products to corporations. According to Re/code, John Solomon left his former leadership role at HP to start his new position at Apple and may be involved with international sales of the upcoming Apple Watch in the future. Solomon’s LinkedIn profile points to a long career with HP, most recently serving as SVP of Printing & Personal Systems then General Manager of HP’s Consumer Printing Global Business Unit, departing the company in December 2014 and joining a “to be announced” company this month....

One of the key benefits of the Apple Card is getting 3% cash back at select merchants when using Apple Pay. This list includes vendors like Nike, Uber, T-Mobile, and Walgreens. Many retailers are currently limiting in-store transactions and encouraging curbside pick up and delivery when available. Earlier tonight, Apple announced that Walgreens transactions made with the physical Apple Card would now be eligible for the 3% reward just like they were made with Apple Pay....

Apple has confirmed to me that it already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, and has been doing so since 2019. It has not, however, been scanning iCloud Photos or iCloud backups. The clarification followed me querying a rather odd statement by the company’s anti-fraud chief: that Apple was “the greatest platform for distributing child porn.” That immediately raised the question: If the company wasn’t scanning iCloud photos, how could it know this?...

Apple, along with Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, today banned from their respective web browsers a malicious certificate that was being used by the Kazakhstan government to intercept HTTPS traffic coming from the city of Nur-Sultan, the country’s capital. As reported by ZDNet, the certificate was first used on December 6, when local authorities forced Internet providers to prevent Nur-Sultan residents from accessing foreign websites without a special certificate issued by the government....

Apple has officially posted its Q4 2015 earnings results with $51.5 billion in revenue and $11.1 billion in profit from the July to September quarter. While Apple isn’t breaking out Apple Watch sales, Q4 is only the second quarter to include numbers for the product (grouped with iPods, Apple TVs, and more in the Other category) and the first to include any iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus sales. Apple previously announced over 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch sales with purchases completed by Saturday, September 26th included in today’s numbers....

Hours after Wired reported that Apple put a 24-hour freeze on over-the-phone password resets for Apple accounts, an Apple spokesperson confirmed in a statement to The Next Web that a temporary suspension is now in place. Apple also asked that users reset their password on Apple’s password recovery webpage. Here is Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris full statement: Bloomberg further reported this morning that Cupertino-based Apple would work to put new a procedure in-place that will have proper safety measures....

A new report from the NYPD (via Gothamist) shows crimes involving Apple products in the city have increased 40 percent between Jan. 1 and Sept. 23, which is 10x the 4 percent increase that all crime in the city experienced over the same period. According to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the NYPD, 11,447 incidents involving stolen Apple products were reported in comparison to just 3,280 the year before. We heard similar stats in the past, but Gothamist provided some of the NYPD’s numbers today to show how Apple-related crimes contributed to crime by category this year:...

Apple has published its latest machine learning journal entry with a new article detailing the challenges of implementing facial detection features while maintaining a high level of privacy. The new journal entry explains how the facial detection algorithm works locally on your iPhone without relying on information leaving your device: That requires the right hardware resources to pull off while maintaining efficiency: Apple launched its machine learning journal over the summer and has published multiple entries including one on how “Hey Siri” works on iPhone and Apple Watch....

Data from IDC and App Annie suggested that both Apple and Google are likely to see their app store revenues doubling within the next four years, reports Re/code. Based on Apple’s 2014 total revenue of $10B, this would suggest that Apple is likely to hit total revenue of $20B in 2018, with developers seeing $14B of it. The study also suggested that the trend toward freemium apps, which derive their income from in-app purchases, will continue–though this model is more common on Android than iOS … “I would consider this projection conservative,” App Annie CEO Bertrand Schmitt said in an interview, noting that the company has consistently been revising its forecasts up over the past two years as revenue has exceeded expectations....

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Apple has today added 9 new locations to its Flyover feature in Maps (via MacRumors), including three in France, a landmark in Sweden, one in New Zealand, two in Arizona, and a couple more United States landmarks in Wyoming and Arkansas. Flyover allows users pinch to zoom and pan around high resolution views of more than a hundred different landmarks, and today’s additions bring the total number of supported locations up to 101....

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) details monopolistic practices from Apple and Google app stores in a new study. The report, Towards Regulating App Stores, from ADIF and The Quantum Hub, mentions global regulatory actions targeting both tech giants control over the mobile app ecosystem. According to the study, both Apple and Google charge significant fees for app store services. Additionally, Google is soon prohibiting developers from taking any outside method of payments from customers, hence earning a commission....