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Apple has been summoned to answer questions in the Korean parliament late this month to explain the company’s repair and replacement policy for the iPhone. Apple’s senior director for Apple’s iPhone service, Farrel Farhoudi, is scheduled to appear in the Korean parliament on October 21. At issue: South Korean iPhone customers are complaining because Apple appears to have a practice of “mostly” giving refurbished iPhones to customers with faulty devices, instead of offering free repairs, neew replacements or refunds....

A security researcher who found a security hole in Safari says that Apple has still not fixed it, more than three months after he informed the company. The same vulnerability was present in Microsoft’s Edge browser, but the company issued a patch a month ago … The flaw results in Safari showing the URL of a safe website like gmail.com while the user has in fact been sent to an attack site....

Apple has today been granted a patent for an Apple Watch charging carrying case which works like the AirPods case – providing somewhere to store the Watch when not in use, while simultaneously recharging it. The design is significantly different to that offered with the original $10k+ Apple Watch Edition. While a charging case for a device typically worn all day might sound less useful than the AirPods case, it makes more sense when you read the details …...

As the launch of the Apple Watch nears, Reuters this evening reports that Apple has been increasing its advertising of the device significantly over the past month. Since the company’s “Spring Forward” event on March 9th, Apple has spent $38 million on its Watch advertising campaign. That number includes U.S. TV ads and digital responses. For comparison’s sake, Apple has spent $42 million on advertising for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus over the last five months....

Apple is frequently releasing new updates to its operating systems with bug fixes and security improvements. In addition, macOS also has a system that lets Apple silently deliver anti-malware protections to Mac computers. And according to a recent research, the company this year introduced major under-the-hood security updates to macOS. Anti-malware protection in macOS Just like any other software on the market, macOS is susceptible to malware. And while Macs don’t have an app like Windows Defender that is clearly visible to users, the Mac operating system has a tool called “XProtect” that constantly scans for malware in the background....

Following Google’s decision to shut down Reader, many alternative RSS services have started popping up around the web. Today, AOL launched their own Reader service as a limited private beta. To get in, you’ll need to visit the AOL Reader page and enter your email address. The service will presumably accept AOL and non-AOL addresses, but so far it doesn’t seem to provide any visual feedback or a confirmation email telling you whether you’ve been added to the beta pool when we tested with both Gmail and AOL addresses....

Bloomberg reports that Apple has acquired Perceptio, a startup that focuses on developing technology that allows companies to run artificial intelligence systems on smartphones, but without the need for sharing as much user data in the cloud. Perceptio was founded by Zac Stone and Nicolas Pinto with the goal of developing advanced artificial intelligence systems for smartphones. Both Pinto and Stone have backgrounds in the artificial intelligence field, having been researchers dedicated to building image-recognition systems that use deep learning....

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act could ban major tech firms like Apple from favoring their products over competitors. Aimed to shake up the competition, tech lobbyists claim the bill, which allows sideloading, could harm popular consumer products. Despite being a bipartisan bill, some Democrats are hesitant over worries it could hurt the upcoming midterm election, according to POLITICO. However, Senator Amy Klobuchar has unveiled a revised version of the bill that addresses concerns from lawmakers of both parties....

As part of the documents turning up in the ongoing Epic vs. Apple trial that commenced today, various details have leaked out about Epic’s planned road map for the game. Seemingly, when Apple and Epic were on better terms, the companies plotted a services bundle that would offer a bundle subscription of Fortnite Club (a Fortnite subscription tier, which was later released in the US named “Fortnite Crew”), Apple Music, and Apple TV+....

Apple today has officially reported its fiscal Q2 2020 earnings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We already knew that Apple wouldn’t hit the guidance it originally provided for the quarter, and today’s release provides the official numbers. How did the COVID-19 outbreak affect Apple’s business during Q2 2020? The company has announced revenue of $58.3 billion and profit of $11.25 billion. This compares to $58 billion in revenue and $11.56 billion profit reported in the same quarter last year....

Apple Card 0% financing was first launched in 2019 for iPhone, and later extended to other Apple products. However, some people apparently missed out because they failed to select the correct option at checkout. The company is now reaching out to customers who may have been affected, and offering to switch them to the 0% deal … Background Apple first launched a 0% financing plan for Apple Card users buying a new iPhone back in 2019....

Apple and Nike are teaming up for an exclusive Apple Card promo that starts today and runs into October. When shopping at Nike stores, online, and in-app, Apple Card holders can earn an impressive 6% cash back on their purchases when using Apple Pay. Apple announced this promo in an email to Apple Card users on Thursday. The offer is available starting today through October 15. Apple says: Apple Card generally offers 1% cashback on all purchases, 2% on all Apple Pay purchases, and 3% on purchases made with Apple itself....

Apple is expanding its Everyone Can Code initiative to make it easier for elementary and middle school students to get started in the world of coding. Apple is introducing new curriculum for the program and expanding the availability of Today at Apple coding sessions. Apple says the new curriculum includes new materials for students, teachers, and more: Furthermore, from December 1 through December 15, Apple Stores around the world will increase Today at Apple coding sessions to celebrate Computer Science Education Week....

Several years late, Apple is finally dropping support for logging into the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore via an AOL username and password. Apple has emailed users with AOL accounts attached to iTunes to indicate that login support will end on March 31, 2015. Users have until then to convert their AOL login accounts to Apple IDs for iTunes services. Apple recently posted a support document with instructions on converting an AOL login to an Apple ID....

European Union regulators today announced the launch of a formal investigation of Samsung over mobile patents to determine whether the South Korean conglomerate breached EU antitrust rules in its legal dealings with competitors. The investigation is focused on so-called FRAND patents, a common rule that stipulates a patent applying to the standard must be adopted on “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms” (FRAND). According to the press release, EU regulators want to figure out whether Samsung “used certain of its standard essential patent rights to distort competition in European mobile device markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules....

Apple just released the following statement on the App corruption issue we reported earlier today: The “small number of users” seems to run counter to what Instapaper developer Marco Arment found as he publicized his issues with Apple (along with Good Reader) today. “The issue has been rectified and we don’t expect it to occur again,” Apple said. Those who have an affected app can re-download it from the App Store....

CEOs from massive tech companies like Apple, AOL Facebook, Microsoft and Google recently issued an open letter to the US Senate regarding the growing concerns about internet surveillance. Normally competitors, this unusual alliance agrees that change is needed and that the version of the USA Freedom Act that recently passed through the US House of Representatives needs some work. These tech industry leaders pointed out how this act fails to prevent bulk collection of internet metadata, like who emailed you or called you....

MacRumors noticed that Apple placed images of their new LED Cinema Display on their website yesterday. The leaked display looks identical to the current model, but will have a Thunderbolt port on the back to easily connect with Apple’s latest Thunderbolt machines: iMacs, MacBook Pros and Mac Pros, MacBook Airs, and Mac minis in the very near future. You can tell that these are new displays based on the unreleased model number, previously thought to be a new White MacBook that they are attached to and by the OS X Lion wallpaper....

A new report tonight from Motherboard claims that an Apple spokesperson lobbied against California’s latest right to repair legislation by talking up consumer safety risks to lawmakers, an approach the company has used multiple times before. Motherboard’s anonymous sources said that an Apple spokesperson who is also a lobbyist for the trade organization CompTIA brought an iPhone to meetings with California lawmakers. The lobbyist is said to have demonstrated the internal components of the smartphone to legislators and highlighting the safety risks to consumers in scenarios like a punctured lithium-ion battery....

About Making The Grade: Every Saturday, Bradley Chambers publishes a new article about Apple in education. He has been managing Apple devices in an education environment since 2009. Through his experience deploying and managing 100s of Macs and 100s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple’s products work at scale, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for students. The current situation has put Apple in a scenario where it’s a friend of Microsoft in education....