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282 'Safari' stories December 2010 - December 2012

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Amazon Instant Video comes to iPhone and iPod touch

Seth Weintraub Dec 13 2012 - 6:31 am PT

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You can now watch all of those free Amazon Prime videos on your iPhone or iPod touch. Amazon updated its Instant Video App today to support Apple’s smaller screens. The app also lets you watch any of your Amazon collection of paid videos, buy videos, and allows you to store for offline viewing as well. Great for the holidays! More info here.

Amazon Instant Video is now playing on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Videos you’ve purchased or rented with Amazon Instant Video will show up instantly on your Apple device once you download and sign into the app. Amazon Prime members can stream titles from the entire Prime Instant Video library.

Next stop for Amazon: Apple TV?

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Prominent iOS hacker Comex no longer working at Apple after communications breakdown

Jake Smith Oct 18 2012 - 5:33 pm PT

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Famed iOS hacker Comex tweeted today that his internship at Apple has ceased. “So… no point in delaying,” he said to 195,000 followers. “As of last week, after about a year, I’m no longer associated with Apple.” Comex, whose real name Nicholas Allegra, explained to Forbes that his employment at Apple was terminated for not responding to an email. Forbes Andy Greenberg wrote:

When I followed up with Allegra in a phone call, he explained that the email he forgot to answer was an offer to continue his employment at Apple as a remote intern. At Apple, apparently, offer letters are taken rather seriously, and Allegra soon learned that his had been rescinded. “I wasn’t too happy about it, but it didn’t seem like I was able to fix it,” he says. “So that’s what it is.”

Before joining Apple as an intern over a year ago, Comex’s hacking work most notably included JailbreakMe. It is a popular tool to jailbreak iOS devices through an exploit within Safari. He also developed another popular jailbreak tool called “Spirit”.
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Google Maps web Street View goes live on iOS devices

Seth Weintraub Oct 4 2012 - 5:17 am PT

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As predicted yesterday, Google’s Street View is now available on Mobile Safari and Chrome on iOS devices. Having a quick look around, the service is very fluid, especially for a web page, and the quality is superb with graphics that really look solid on a Retina display.

Perhaps Apple should make a “pop-out” service that lets you open a Street View web page from within the new iOS Maps.app?
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Roxio updates Toast Titanium 11.1: Fully Cocoa-ized, Mountain Lion/Gatekeeper compatible, hundreds of changes/fixes

9to5 Staff Sep 1 2012 - 3:48 pm PT

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Update: Commenters pointed out the update is not going well…so proceed with caution.

As Roxio’s Toast moves from burning DVDs and BluRays to a “media toolkit” that allows easy social sharing and converting of audio/video (as well as burning/archiving), it is also getting updated with new Macintosh features. Today, Roxio’s Optical media burning software goes to 11.1 and adds the following updates:

Toast has been fully Cocoa-ized – Hundreds of changes and fixes implemented as a part of this effort
Added OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion compatibility
Added support for recording to 100GB and 128GB BDXL media
Implemented Gatekeeper Support
Web-Video feature improvements
- Requires using Safari to capture web-video
- YouTube users may need to OPT OUT of HTML5 Trial
Mountain Lion users will need to update to 10.8.1 or later to publish video to YouTube

The boxed package is $99, the non-App Store download is $79, and a Toast 10-to-11 upgrade is $59. Amazon also has it for $52, while the free update to 11.1 is here.

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It’s official: Google agrees to pay record $22.5M FTC fine in Safari bypass dispute

Élyse Betters Aug 9 2012 - 8:37 am PT

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We reported last week that the Federal Trade Commission voted to fine Google $22.5 million for violating browser security settings in Safari, but now Google has agreed to pay the record-setting amount and finally settle its dispute.

According to the press release (via MarketWatch):

Google to pay $22.5 million to settle FTC dispute

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google Inc. GOOG +0.27% Thursday agreed to pay a $22.5 million penalty to settle a dispute with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC said the penalty stems from charges that Google misrepresented users of Apple Inc.’sAAPL +0.13% Safari Web browser after saying it wouldn’t place tracking “cookies” or serve targeted ads to Safari users. The FTC said Google’s actions violated and earlier privacy settlement between the FTC and Google. Google shares were up less than 1% at $643.63 in early trading Thursday.

The allegations against Google began in February, when the search engine and other ad companies were caught bypassing Safari security settings to install tracking cookies on devices and computers without consent.

“The record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to all companies under an FTC privacy order,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in another presser. “No matter how big or small, all companies must abide by FTC orders against them and keep their privacy promises to consumers, or they will end up paying many times what it would have cost to comply in the first place.”

It is worth noting that the hefty fine roughly equals five hours of revenue for Google based on Q2 2012 sales.

The FTC’s full press release is below.

This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.

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Some Mountain Lion Tips and Tricks

Élyse Betters Jul 30 2012 - 1:22 pm PT

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Mountain Lion eyed over 3 million downloads in just four days, but those early adopters were even more quick to notice a few unfavorable tweaks in Apple’s latest OS. Have no fear, though. We have a brief tips and tricks resource guide below.
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Add RSS button to Safari 6 with Subscribe To Feed extension

Jordan Kahn Jul 26 2012 - 7:19 am PT

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While Safari 6 brought a number of great new features, including unified search and offline Reading List for Lion, many were disappointed that Apple dropped the RSS button next to the URL bar. Luckily, developer Daniel Jalkut at Red Sweater Software wrote an extension to add the functionality:

My beta-quality, more-or-less unsupported Subscribe to Feed extension adds a handy button to the toolbar that, when a page offers RSS or Atom feeds, can be clicked to easily open the feed:// link, which should automatically open your favorite news reader… I hope this extension fills a void for those of you missing the beloved RSS button.

It is not perfect… it currently defaults to 9to5mac’s comments feed. It is better than nothing, though, especially if you are missing the feature from Safari 5.

Apple appears to currently be passing on Safari 6.0 features for Windows PCs (9to5mac.com)

Google to pay $22.5M settlement in FTC’s iOS Safari privacy investigation

Jordan Kahn Jul 10 2012 - 5:41 am PT

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The last time we updated you on the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Google’s method of bypassing the default Safari browser settings on iOS devices, reports claimed the company was facing possible fines that could reach tens of millions. Today, The Wall Street Journal said Google is close to reaching a $22.5 million settlement with the FTC, according to people close to the negotiations:

The fine is expected to be the largest penalty ever levied on a single company by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. It offers the latest sign of the FTC’s stepped-up approach to policing online privacy violations, coming just six months after The Wall Street Journal reported on Google’s practices.

While the fine likely will represent only a tiny portion of Google’s revenues—last year, the Internet giant raked in that much cash roughly every five hours or so—it counts among a series of negative reports about Google’s privacy practices that could undermine users’ trust in its services.

Google facing tens of millions in fines in FTC’s iOS Safari privacy investigation (9to5google.com)

Reading List gains offline reading in recent Mountain Lion builds

Jake Smith May 22 2012 - 5:47 pm PT

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Safari Reading List is definitely a nice, simple alternative to third party apps like Instapaper, Readability, and Pocket for those who use Safari. Reading List allows you to save and sync links for later reading between both your Mac and iOS devices. It has been known that offline reading is coming soon to Safari on Mountain Lion, and it looks like that feature finally landed. Found by Gear Live today and a commenter on Control Your Mac 10 days ago, offline reading was enabled in recent builds of Mountain Lion. However, offline reading is sadly still not available on iOS devices; although, we would guess iOS offline support is coming at some point.

Offline reading is pretty self-explanatory. While connected, you can mark items to read in your Reading List. Once the Internet is disconnected, you can still load the article thanks to a bit of caching work done on Apple’s end. Apps like Instapaper, Readability, and Pocket have offered a similar feature for quite some time, so it is nice to see Apple finally utilize offline reading.

Earlier this week, Instapaper owner Macro Arment said (video queued below) his app has been pretty much left unfazed after the introduction of Reading List over a year ago, which points to the lack of offline reading to a possibility why Reading List may have not caught steam. Sadly, you can only use Reading List in Safari too, so Chrome users are left to find another option. This looks to be like a nice solution for the mainstreamers, however.

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How apps will benefit from a 4-inch iPhone

Jordan Kahn May 17 2012 - 2:24 pm PT

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With all the rumors that Apple plans to increase the next iPhone’s display to approximately 4-inches, and yesterday’s reports from Wall Street Journal confirming the rumors, there is much speculation regarding the exact dimensions and resolution of the upcoming display. Overdrive Design blog’s Niilo Autio pointed us to the mock-ups he did of how apps might benefit from a 4-inch display using a resolution of 640-by-1,152. The images below are compared to apps on the existing iPhone 4/4S design. The added screen real estate is especially noticeable in the Safari and Mail apps.

Apple releases update to Leopard, includes Flashback removal tool

Jake Smith May 14 2012 - 2:22 pm PT

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While Apple has released updates for both Lion and Snow Leopard to remove the Flashback malware that is making the rounds, the company had not released a fix for Leopard until today. Apple released a Flashback Removal Security Update for Leopard this afternoon that weighs 1.23MB. Along with removing the Flashback malware, it also disables the Java plug-in in Safari. Apple described the update:

This update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware. If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will notify you that malware was removed. In some cases, the update may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware…To improve the security of your Mac, this update also disables the Java plug-in in Safari.

Apple also released Security Update 2012-003 for Leopard that “disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provides the option to get the current version from Adobe’s website.” A similar update was issued for Lion and Snow Leopard in Safari 5.1.7, which released with OS X 10.7.4 late last week—hit up Software Update.

This is the first major update Apple has released for Leopard since Lion debuted last July. Unlike Adobe, it looks like Apple is devoted to keep its old products up-to-date—even if the update is a few weeks behind. For those of you unaware, Adobe recently told users to upgrade from CS5 to CS6 to avoid a security flaw in older versions of software, instead of just patching it. However, Adobe quickly backed down after receiving a ton of backlash from the community and promised an update in the coming weeks. Still sketchy.

More on the Flashback malware

Apple fixes Flashback malware with software update (9to5mac.com)
Apple developing tool to detect and remove Flashback malware (9to5mac.com)
Flashback malware still on 140,000 Macs, despite Apple’s fix (9to5mac.com)

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Google facing tens of millions in fines in FTC’s iOS Safari privacy investigation

Jordan Kahn May 4 2012 - 12:25 pm PT

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We knew that Google would likely face fines in the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into its method of bypassing Apple’s default iOS Safari browser settings. Last month, reports claimed the FTC would make a decision on the fines within 30 days. Today, Reuters reported sources close to the situation have confirmed Google is currently negotiating with the FTC over fines that “could amount to tens of millions of dollars”:

Google Inc. (GOOG) is negotiating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over how big a fine it will have to pay for its breach of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Safari Internet browser, a person familiar with the matter said. The FTC is preparing to allege that Mountain View, California-based Google deceived consumers and violated terms of a consent decree signed with the commission last year when it planted so-called cookies on Safari, bypassing Apple software’s privacy settings, the person said.

Cross-posted on 9to5Google.com

Google could soon face big fines over iOS Safari privacy controversy in FTC investigation (9to5mac.com)
Lawmakers ask FTC to investigate Google over mobile Safari cookies (9to5google.com)

Little Snitch network monitoring Mac App for $15

Seth Weintraub Apr 24 2012 - 5:38 am PT

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From 9to5Toys.com:

MacUpdate has Little Snitch for half off – $14.99 – today only.

Little Snitch alerts you to outgoing network connections.

A firewall protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet. But who protects your private data from being sent out? Little Snitch does!

As soon as you’re connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want.

Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don’t. Little Snitch allows you to intercept these unwanted connection attempts, and lets you decide how to proceed.

Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, trojans and other malware.

Remember, we’re also giving Toast 11 Platinum along with 8 other quality Mac Applications for $49 as part of the Superbundle deal..
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Google could soon face big fines over iOS Safari privacy controversy in FTC investigation

Jordan Kahn Apr 17 2012 - 7:04 am PT

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In February, the story broke that Google and other advertising companies were bypassing iOS Safari’s privacy settings and continuing to track users without their consent. Google quickly disabled its code responsible for the tracking after a story from The Wall Street Journal published, and Apple then claimed it was “working to put a stop” to the issue.

Now, a new report from Mercury News claimed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering whether to fine Google over the incident. The decision is expected in the next 30 days:

The Federal Trade Commission is deep into an investigation of Google’s actions in bypassing the default privacy settings of Apple’s (AAPL) Safari browser for Google users, according to sources familiar with ongoing negotiations between the company and the government… Within the next 30 days, the FTC could order the Mountain View search giant to pay an even larger fine in the Safari case than the penalty the Federal Communications Commission hit Google with Friday, say the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The report is referring to Google being recently fined $25,000 by the FCC after it allegedly “deliberately impeded and delayed” an investigation related to Street View cars. The heart of the Safari bypassing investigation is whether the company is violating a previous privacy agreement made with the FTC following controversy over the failed “Buzz” service. The report claimed Google could face up to $16,000 per violation per day for violating the agreement. Google said to Mercury News today it would “cooperate with any officials who have questions” and explained making its +1 compatible on mobile Safari created the issue:

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Hands-on with Aereo: $12 monthly broadcast TV with DVR live-streams in Safari for Mac and iOS

Élyse Betters Mar 28 2012 - 9:49 am PT

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Lets talk about Aereo—the service that streams over-the-air local TV to any Mac, iOS device, or PC running Safari for $12 per month.

The decidedly McGyver tech behind this venture relies on fingertip-sized TV antennas in data centers that allow servers to live-stream channels with high-definition reception through a speedy Internet connection. Aereo also works with Apple TV via iTunes’ AirPlay and a source iOS device, and Roku-lovers can use the Aereo channel through set-top boxes. The service even flaunts 40 hours of DVR storage space and an HTML 5 experience. That’s right, no apps—nor cords, cables, and boxes. Hence the startup’s “It’s TV made simple” badge.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR8lLt3gFZ8]

Aereo is currently an invite-only 90-day free trial to New York City residents. Oh, and the behind-the-scene gurus verify billing and IP addresses, so there is no fooling Aereo when requesting login credentials.

That’s enough with the basics; now time to spill the juicy details:

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Fluent is a Sparrow-like UI for Gmail making the ‘future of email’

Élyse Betters Feb 21 2012 - 8:25 am PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z07MnBf9QNY]

Fluent is a web-based workflow stream that works with existing Gmail accounts to bring a Sparrow-like user interface to email.

Users can stream email threads and replies, preview aggregated attachments in a tab, quickly reply or compose inline, archive messages, and even add a to-do list with the new design concept that claims to run on any web browser.

Sparrow is a great success as a Mac-only application, and now Fluent hopes to balance the playing field and snag users whom are in dire need of a new Gmail look and functionality. Fluent’s website specifically praises its workflow ability, multiple accounts options, and “blazing” fast search-as-you-type filter.

The streaming email UI is the work of three former Googlers who quit the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company. BusinessInsider said Cameron Adams, Dhanji Prasanna, and Jochen Bekmann left because designers were “less valuable” than engineers at Google, and they felt disconnected from Google’s culture while operating from across the world in Sydney, Australia…

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Google and other ad companies have been tricking iOS Safari into accepting ad cookies, regardless of security settings

9to5 Staff Feb 17 2012 - 5:38 am PT

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Internet giant Google found itself in a middle of a potential public relations nightmare following a Wall Street Journal article this morning. Tentatively titled “Google’s iPhone Tracking,” the article asserts that “Google Inc. and other advertising companies have been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people using Apple Inc.’s Web browser on their iPhones and computers” to follow iPhone users even after they explicitly set Safari’s privacy controls to disable such tracking. According to authors Julia Angwin and Jennifer Valentino-Devries, Google used “special computer code that tricks Apple’s Safari Web-browsing software into letting them monitor many users.” Google apparently disabled the problematic code after the newspaper contacted the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company.

Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer discovered that although mobile Safari’s default setting blocks cookies from third parties and advertisers, Google and advertising companies Media Innovation Group, Vibrant Media, and Gannett PointRoll fooled mobile Safari into thinking “a person was submitting an invisible form to Google,” letting them in turn install a tracking cookie on users’ iPhones and PCs without consent.

Once a cookie installed, a Safari glitch allowed subsequent cookies to attach. Both Google and Apple issued statements following this morning’s report…

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Mac OS 10.7.3 released, includes Safari 5.1.3

Seth Weintraub Feb 1 2012 - 1:24 pm PT

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Apple just released Mac OS 10.7.3 via Software update and manual download. Apple released some peripheral downloads today as well:

Apple Remote Desktop 3.5.2 Client, Release Notes

OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server), Release Notes

Server Admin Tools 10.7.3, Release Notes

Security Update 2012-001 Server (Snow Leopard), Release Notes

OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server) Combo, Release Notes

Security Update 2012-001 (Snow Leopard), Release Notes

Release notes are as follows:
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Apple releases OS X Lion 10.7.3 build 11D46 with no known issues ahead of public release

9to5 Staff Jan 18 2012 - 5:53 am PT

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Apple seeded its registered developers last night with a new version of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3. The software carries a build number of 11D46 and arrives just a week following the 11D42 build. It has no known issues, indicating that public release is around the corner. Developers are asked to focus on iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight and Safari. The Delta update weighs in at 996.98MB and combo update is a 1.26GB download. The OS X Lion Server 10.7.3 build 11D46 is also available for download (Delta:1GB, Combo: 1.34GB, Server Admin Tools: 202.59MB). Additional build notes after the break.

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Amazon launches iPad Kindle Store on the web, feels like a native app

9to5 Staff Jan 10 2012 - 11:01 am PT

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Amazon today launched touch-optimized Kindle Store for iPad as a standalone web app accessed through the iOS Safari browser. You may remember that the online retail giant released Kindle Cloud Reader in August —also a web app that works great on Apple’s tablet, but this is an entirely different experience. Available on the iPad at www.amazon.com/iPadKindleStore, the web interface totally feels like a native app. It is smooth, natural and supports familiar touch gestures, like swiping left and right to brows the store’s virtual shelves. The design calls for big cover images, large buttons and elegant typeface that’s easy on the eyes, unlike some other HTML5 web apps that feel cluttered on a 9.7-inch screen and cause eye strain…

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Apple releases OS X 10.7.3 build 11D36 to developers

Jake Smith Dec 20 2011 - 9:58 pm PT

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Apple released OS X 10.7.3 build 11D36 to developers this evening, and it is available on the Developer Center. Apple asked developers to focus on iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight, and Safari. The delta update of this build tops out at 986 MB and the combo update weighs in at 1.25 GB. The OS X 10.7.3 should roll out to Lion users in the coming weeks, so sit tight.

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Apple releases Safari 5.1.2, brings bug fixes

Jake Smith Nov 29 2011 - 2:19 pm PT

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Apple has released Safari 5.1.2 to users this afternoon, available by direct download or by hitting up Software Update. The update is relatively minor, but brings along bug fixes that address issues of stability, extensive memory usage, fixing webpages that were flashing white, and now allows PDFs to be displayed within web content. Go ahead and download!

Improve stability
Address issues that could cause hangs and excessive memory usage
Address issues that could cause webpages to flash white
Allow PDFs to be displayed within web content

New iOS security exploit lets apps read users’ information by executing unsigned code

Jake Smith Nov 7 2011 - 4:02 pm PT

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTtuwQYNmk&feature=player_embedded”]

Security expert Charlie Miller has found a flaw in code signing on iOS devices (via Forbes) that allows developers to sneak malware apps onto the App Store without Apple’s detection. The malware can then be used to read user’s contacts, make the phone vibrate or sound a ringtone, steal user’s photos, and more whenever the developer chooses. Sketchy!

To shed more light on the exploit Miller is giving a talk at the SysCan conference in Taiwan next week, but he does a good job in showing it off in the video above. Miller isn’t a novice to iOS and Mac security by any means. In 2008 Miller broke into the MacBook Air in two minutes through Safari and more.

Users would definitely be taken by surprise, seeing as we’re all pretty comfortable with how secure Apple keeps the App Store with the company’s review process. Sadly, it looks like any app could be used to harm users. For now, we suggest you keep away from lesser-known apps and developers until Apple issues a fix for the exploit.

Miller’s app has been both removed from the App Store and his developer account has been closed. At any rate, this was definitely a nice find.

iOS continues to rise in the mobile/tablet space

Jake Smith Oct 1 2011 - 12:10 am PT

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Net Applications has come out with new numbers showing mobile OS market share. Android has almost caught Java ME. (Data: Net Applications. Chart: PED via Fortune)

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