Free Republic

Apple’s new campus is scheduled to be completed in 2017 Apple project rendering Apple Inc.’s new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California is starting to come together, according to the latest drone footage taken from the construction site. Drone photographer Duncan Sinfield shot Apple’s AAPL, +0.22% Campus 2 this week and posted the footage to YouTube. The footage shows the finishing touches on the fitness center, nearly-finished parking structures and progress under way at Apple’s new R&D facility. Apple project rendering The glass-panel facade on the main building is about half installed, while the carbon-fiber roof is being prepped for solar...

The Tech that forever changed the way we live, work, and play. Think of the gear you can’t live without: The smartphone you constantly check. The camera that goes with you on every vacation. The TV that serves as a portal to binge-watching and -gaming. Each owes its influence to one model that changed the course of technology for good. It’s those devices we’re recognizing in this list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time. Think of the gear you can’t live without: The smartphone you constantly check. The camera that goes with you on every vacation. The...

Apple will analyze the recovered iPhone that may hold the key to what happened last summer when two Florida teens disappeared on a boating trip, according to an agreement reached by the teens' parents in court today. The recovered iPhone belonged to 14-year-old Austin Stephanos, who went missing while on a boat trip with Perry Cohen, also 14, in July. The Coast Guard led an eight-day search in the Atlantic, covering 50,000 nautical miles. The boys' bodies were never found. But Austin's iPhone was on board when the boys' boat was recovered last month about 100 miles off the coast...

Facebook is spending millions to keep Mark Zuckerberg alive At Facebook, security is a top priority — that is, security for CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The social-networking giant spent more than $5 million last year on bodyguards and other measures to protect Zuckerberg and his growing family, according to a regulatory filing. The cost to protect Zuckerberg topped $6.2 million in 2014, up from $3.2 million the previous year, according to the filing. In all, the company has shelled out $14.5 million on security for the CEO over the past three years. Apparently, Zuckerberg presents a much bigger target than rival...

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn told CNBC on Thursday he has sold his Apple position as the tech giant's stock continues to shed value after disappointing earnings. "We no longer have a position in Apple," Icahn told CNBC's "Power Lunch," noting Apple is a "great company" and CEO Tim Cook is "doing a great job."

The US-based company has sought approval from the government on setting up single-brand retail stores in the country. A government panel has recommended exempting Apple from mandatory local sourcing norms, a move which would pave the way for Apple to open single-brand retail stores in the country. The company had given a detailed presentation to the committee headed by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek on April 19, on its products, technology, innovations and camera. "The committee has found that the company's products are cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art. It has recommended to exempt them from...

The rollout of disappointing first-quarter earnings has continued in recent days, with sectors such as airlines and tech getting hit and eclipsing memories of early beats by the big banks. But the biggie has to be the disappointing top- and bottom-line miss by Apple (AAPL) after the close on Tuesday, marking the company's first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years.Apple was down more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on those earnings that came in at $1.90 per share (vs. $1.97 expected), an 18.5 percent decline from last year. Revenues came in at $50.6 billion (vs. $52.2 billion expected),...

A sheriff's audio dispatch indicates a man was found in a conference room with a gun nearby, but officials could not confirm thatA man who worked for Apple was found dead at the tech giant's headquarters in Cupertino Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff. No suspects are being sought in his death, and no one is in danger, sheriff's officials said, adding that the campus at 1 Infinite Loop is open. Investigators have not confirmed information in apparent police dispatch recordings in which authorities describe the scene. "Through further investigation, they determined there was no other individuals...

In 2013, China Labor Watch (CLW) began investigating the labor conditions of workers at Pegatron Corporation factories in China making products for Apple... This year, CLW collected 1,261 pay stubs from Pegatron Shanghai workers, 13 times as many as stubs as last year. The documents were gathered with the assistance of 18 Pegatron workers coming from 12 departments... 1) Workers are paid at a rate of 1.82 USD/hour. 2) On average, overtime pay as a percentage of workers’ gross wages is 42.4%. 3) Workers work more than 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. 83.8% workers’ monthly overtime hours...

Lined up with military precision, hundreds of employees wait to make iPhones at one of the most secretive factories in the Apple production line. Dressed in pink jackets, blue hairnets and plastic slippers, the workers have their ID badges scanned on an iPad by a supervisor at morning roll call. From there, they make their way in single file to the assembly line but not before undergoing facial recognition checks at security turnstiles to clock in. Pegatron Corp employs up to 50,000 people to assemble iPhones at its plant in Shanghai which covers an area the size of 90 football...

U.S. government recommends uninstalling software after security holes discovered If you’re still using Apple’s QuickTime on a Windows PC, it’s time to stop. Apple confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that it is no longer supporting or updating the 11-year-old QuickTime 7 for Windows, and has posted instructions for uninstalling the software. Keeping it installed on your computer may pose a risk. Last week, researchers discovered two new security holes that could allow bad guys to create malicious files to launch within Apple’s media player. Trend Micro, the security research firm that found the vulnerability, said that it hasn’t yet...

Thinking of getting one. Is it worth it? Experiences?

She was only 17 years-old when she died. Her father cut out her tongue and burned her alive. What was her crime, and why did this man kill his own daughter in the most horrific imaginable way? He was a Saudi Arabian official who worked with the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – the religious police – and when his daughter became a Christian, he butchered and murdered her.What does this have to do with Starbucks and Apple?Both these companies blast Americans who stand for religious liberties and conservative moral values, even threatening states that will protect those...

Adding to the evidence that Apple is intending to change the name of OS X, the company on Thursday posted an updated webpage referring to the software as "MacOS" instead. The term can be found on an FAQ page within Apple's Environment subsite, specifically in a section about greenhouse gases and product lifecycles. The text is the only direct reference to either Macs or OS X in the FAQ — notably, the rest of Apple's website still appears to insist on using "OS X." In late March it was discovered that one framework in OS X 10.11.4 refers to "macOS."...

The urgency? … a newly discovered variant of the 1970 glitch that could result in your device becoming inoperable if you happen to be running any version of iOS prior to iOS 9.3.1, and connect to a known Wi-Fi network.The issue revolves around a feature that has been present in Apple’s iOS operating system for sometime – that is, the ability for either an iPhone or iPad to connect to networks that you have personally connected to before, automatically.This is in actual fact super handy, and prevents the need to enter security information for said networks each time you which...

Alert (TA16-105A) -- Apple Ends Support for QuickTime for Windows; New Vulnerabilities AnnouncedSystems Affected Microsoft Windows with Apple QuickTime installed Overview According to Trend Micro, Apple will no longer be providing security updates for QuickTime for Windows, leaving this software vulnerable to exploitation. [1] (link is external) Description All software products have a lifecycle. Apple will no longer be providing security updates for QuickTime for Windows. [1] (link is external) The Zero Day Initiative has issued advisories for two vulnerabilities found in QuickTime for Windows. [2] (link is external) [3] (link is external) Impact Computer systems running unsupported software are...

A Sacramento woman uses her phone on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014. Hector Amezcua hamezcua@sacbee.com A national debate over smartphone encryption arrived in Sacramento on Tuesday as legislators defeated a bill penalizing companies that don’t work with courts to break into phones, siding with technology industry representatives who called the bill a dangerous affront to privacy. The bill did not receive a vote, with members of the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection worrying the measure would undermine data security and impose a logistically untenable requirement on California companies. Disagreement over the balance between privacy and public safety exploded into...

The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist’s phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter. The new information was then used to create a piece of hardware that helped the FBI to crack the iPhone’s four-digit personal identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all the data, the individuals said. The researchers, who typically keep a low profile, specialize in hunting for vulnerabilities in software and then in some cases selling them to the U.S. government....

Mac users are once again being urged to exercise caution when installing updates to Adobe Flash Player, after a fake update was discovered infecting computers.Intego security experts have identified the rogue package installer as a variant of OSX/InstallCore, and have updated Intego VirusBarrier definitions to provide protection.The in-the-wild attack has been spread in the form of a Mac Package installer .pkg file, also known a flat package, and has been signed with a legitimate Developer ID certificate — effectively tricking OS X's built-in Gatekeeper security to believe that the files can be trusted and are not malicious.Curiously, if the Mac Package...

Fitness tracking and notifications are the most used features on Apple's first wearable, says a poll from ad technology company Fluent. For many Apple Watch owners, the gadget wrapped around their wrist is much more than just a watch. Around 80 percent of Apple Watch owners said they use the device for fitness tracking and notifications, according to survey results released Friday by advertising technology company Fluent. Listening to music is popular among 77 percent. Exchanging emails and instant messages is on the list of 66 percent. Using the watch to purchase items via Apple Pay is also a favorite...