Following the leak of millions of UDIDs for Apple’s iOS devices, a publishing company called BlueToad has come forward to NBC News as the source of the leaks. Anonymous, the group who obtained approximately 12 million Apple UDIDs of iOS device customers, initially pinpointed that the data came from an FBI laptop. The FBI quickly refuted the claim, and Apple commented as well. BlueToad, a publishing company for apps on Apple’s App Store, says that UDIDs were stolen from its servers two weeks ago....

For people in the know on RAID cards, the advantages are plenty. Mirroring (RAID 1) protects you from a hard drive failure. Striping (RAID 0) speeds up the data access speeds of your drives by writing to two drives simultaneously. RAID 5 does a little of both if you have three or more drives. From there, you can go on and on with different configurations and levels to your heart’s content....

During today’s new product announcement, Apple unveiled an all-new addition to the iPhone family. The iPhone 5c (with a lowercase “c”) replaces the iPhone 5 in Apple’s mobile lineup. The 5c features many of the internal components of the previous iPhone 5, but the exterior of the device has been completely redesigned. Rather than a metal and glass design like that of previous models, the back of the iPhone 5’s casing is made of plastic which comes in a variety of colors....

Apple Configurator 2 is a tool created by Apple to simplify the setup and deployment of multiple iOS devices in businesses and schools. The app was today updated to version 2.12, which brought support for restoring the 2019 Mac Pro firmware, in addition to new features for VPN networks and more. Since the introduction of Apple’s T2 security chip in the 2017 iMac Pro, the latest Mac computers may need to have the firmware restored through another Mac using Apple Configurator 2 on some occasions....

After unveiling the new iPad’s Retina Display, Apple execs are onstage right now confirming the new iPad will run a new dual-core A5X processor with quad-core graphics. Apple said the A5 chip is “twice as fast” as Tegra 3 and the new A5X provides “four times the performance.” We will update this post when we learn more on the specifics. Apple March 7th iPad event Liveblog (9to5mac.com) Apple drops 16GB iPad 2 to $399, $529 for Wi-Fi + 3G (9to5mac....

Apple is courting controversy in China by announcing that it will take a cut of donations sent to content creators via social media apps in the future … WeChat and other Chinese social media apps include a ‘tip’ function which allows users to reward content providers by sending them a donation of anything from 1 yuan (15 cents) up. Donations are transferred by the chat app between mobile wallets. Apple last month told developers that they should disable this functionality in order to comply with App Store rules, but the WSJ reports that the company appears to have had a change of heart, and now sees tips as a revenue opportunity....

Update: iGen.fr notes that Marseille, the second largest city in France, has also just received Flyover coverage. Apple has been adding a lot of new imagery in its Maps app for the 3D flyover mode that initially launched in just a handful of countries. Over the last year it has added coverage for a ton of new locations in the US, UK, France, and Canada, and over the last week readers have reached out to note the addition of two major cities for the feature: Cape Town, South Africa and Helsinki, Finland....

Following officially getting regulatory approval to complete its purchase of Beats, Apple today added a new section to its online store highlighting Beats by Dr. Dre products. The new section is accessible from the Accessories section of Apple’s online store and joins the main All Accessories, Apple accessories, Exclusives, Trending, and Gift Card sections that get top billing along the top of the accessories store. The new microsite is a typical Apple product page that links to dedicated sections for Beats headphones, speakers, and accessories....

After more than a full year of planning, meetings, controversy, and protests, Apple has called off plans to build a global flagship store in Melbourne’s Federation Square. The decision follows a notice filed by Heritage Victoria refusing to grant a demolition permit for the public square. Opposition to the permit was widely expected after Melbourne’s City Council rejected demolishing the Yarra Building at Federation Square in March. The fight to keep Apple out of Federation Square has been a strained and arduous process that culminated with Heritage Victoria’s ruling....

Analyst Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray believes Apple’s selling 95 iPhone 3Gs in each of its 188 Apple retail stores every day, four times the sales momentum achieved by the previous model one year ago. That analyst now predicts Apple will sell “at least 4.47 million iPhones” in the current quarter. Munster mentioned that sales momentum has slowed slightly in recent days – but Apple revealed a deal with Best Buy under which the giant chain will also lend its retail weight to iPhone sales....

Apex Legends is getting new solo and duo modes added according to a new datamine leak. The latest multiplayer shooter from Respawn Studios, the creator of Titanfall, Apex Legends was announced and released all within a couple of days. A new entry in the mega-popular battle royale genre of games, Apex Legends has become very successful, very quickly. The free-to-play title gained 10 million players in its first 72 hours and even gave a boost to its publisher EA’s stock prices....

Back in November of 2015, Apple quietly acquired security consultancy firm LegbaCore it has recently been discovered. The acquisition was initially revealed back in December by security researcher Trammell Hudson during a presentation at the 32C3 conference. The acquisition was further corroborated by a series of tweets from founder Xeno Kovah (seen below) and the company’s website, which states that it is “not accepting any new customer engagements.” Specific details of the acquisition are unclear at this point....

An iPhone 6 is at the center of an investigation of two missing Florida teens. Last July, 14-year-olds Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen set out on a boat trip in the Atlantic Ocean, but both of the bodies went missing and boys never returned. The United States Coast Guard performed an eight-day search for the boys, but never found them. Last, month, however, their boat was recovered 100 miles off the shore of Bermuda and on the boat was Stephanos’ iPhone (via ABC News)....

Apple Card is adding another benefit for cardholders: 3% Daily Cash back at Exxon and Mobil gas stations. This means that when you pay with Apple Pay using your Apple Card, you’ll earn 3% cash back through the Wallet app on your iPhone. Apple’s new deal with Exxon and Mobil gas stations is the latest expansion of Apple Card benefits. You can use Apple Pay inside Exxon and Mobil stores, or use the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app and pay at the pump with your Apple Card via Apple Pay (via CNBC)....

Another day, another patent dispute. This time Apple is defending the use of its HTTP live-streaming service against Emblaze, Ltd., Bloomberg reports. Specifically, the lawyer for Emblaze has accused Apple of pushing its video streaming technology on sports-related services like WatchESPN and MLB At Bat which support live streaming over apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and more. “Apple’s HLS is nothing more than Emblaze’s patented solution under a different name,” he said....

Calibration is now achieved through software alone. This should make repairs faster and makes it easier for more repair locations to open up around the world, assuming Apple also loosens its relatively-stringent approval policy on setting up new repair centers. When Touch ID debuted with the iPhone 5s, the home button became cryptographically paired with the display and logic board. Replacing an iPhone screen and digitiser without going through Apple’s proprietary calibration process would result in an iPhone with a new screen, but non-functional fingerprint sensor....

Apple last year launched a repair program for its AirPods Pro wireless earbuds, as some units had been affected by a problem causing “crackling or static sounds.” The company has now extended the AirPods Pro repair program with an additional year of coverage. When the program was originally announced in October 2020, Apple said it would cover affected AirPods Pro for two years after the first retail sale of the unit....

Apple’s focus on fitness is as strong as ever with Apple Watch Series 2 and the company is pushing fitness every chance it gets. Apple’s director of fitness for health technologies Jay Blahnik announced this evening that he will hold a talk at the Apple Store in SoHo with runner Joan Benoit Samuelson and trainer Jeanette Jenkins. The talk will be held this Friday at 4:30 PM ET. It’s unlikely that the talk will be live streamed, so you’ll have to attend in person to experience it....

Following the official unveiling of Apple’s new 4-inch iPhone SE today, we now have details on pricing and availability for the device. As expected, the device will be available 16GB and 64B capacities with pricing starting at $399 (and $499 for the 64GB model), which Apple notes is its most affordable iPhone yet. The device will also be available for free on the usual two-year agreement with carriers or $17/month on installment plans....

Anthony Mackie could have played a very different character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; one that was far from the hero that is Sam Wilson aka Falcon. The MCU family gets bigger and bigger with each film, and even though some actors have only appeared once (mostly those who played villains), they will always be part of the family. Mackie’s role in this universe could have been one of those, have things gone according to his original plan....