Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Chinese Military-Linked VPN Apps Found on App Store

2025-04-03

A new report reveals that at least five VPN apps on the Apple App Store are linked to the Chinese military, with three boasting over a million downloads. A subsidiary of one of the implicated Chinese companies is hiring for a role involving "monitoring and analyzing platform data," requiring familiarity with American culture. This raises serious concerns about user data privacy and potential circumvention of geo-restrictions. Apple has removed two of the apps, but the fate of the remaining three is uncertain. Experts warn users to only use VPNs from reputable companies, strongly advising against those originating from China due to legal requirements for logging and government data access.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech Chinese Military

International Crime Ring Stole Thousands of iPhones Using Custom Software and Insider Access

2025-03-21

An international crime ring used custom-built software, bribes, and a large network to steal thousands of iPhones immediately after delivery. They bribed AT&T employees for order details and delivery addresses, and used software to circumvent FedEx tracking limitations. The group involved at least 13 people who have been arrested, but the software developer remains at large. The case highlights the need for requiring signatures for valuable deliveries.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech iPhone theft

iPhone SE 3 transplanted into a Nokia Lumia 1020

2025-02-17

A Reddit user has achieved the incredible feat of transplanting an iPhone SE 3's internals into a Nokia Lumia 1020's chassis. Remarkably, the project retains core components like the 12MP camera, Taptic Engine, and Touch ID sensor. Even 5G connectivity and the Lumia's iconic camera shutter button are functional. While the headphone jack is absent, the project cleverly upgrades to a Lightning port, relocating the Touch ID to the rear. It's a testament to ingenuity and a fascinating blend of nostalgia and modern technology.

(9to5mac.com)

Hardware

TikTok's Return to the App Store Imminent

2025-02-14

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that a letter from Trump-era Attorney General Pam Bondi to Apple allows the restoration of TikTok on the App Store. Currently, iPhones with TikTok can continue using it, and a web version exists. However, updates and re-downloads are blocked, and transfer between iPhones (crucially impacting Apple's upcoming low-end launch) is impossible. Apple confirmed TikTok's return for Thursday evening. Previously, Apple and Google were legally obligated to remove TikTok due to ByteDance's failure to divest. Despite a bill passed and signed by President Biden, his administration delayed enforcement, leaving the decision to the Trump administration. Trump, after initially pushing for a ban, later supported TikTok's continued availability, granting ByteDance a 75-day extension to negotiate with US firms and potentially the government.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech

Apple's Mysterious New Product Launch Next Week: iPhone SE 4 Frontrunner

2025-02-13

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced on X that a new product will debut on February 19th. While details remain scarce, a teaser video hints at a 'newest member of the family.' Strong speculation points to the iPhone SE 4, potentially featuring an OLED edge-to-edge display, A18 chip, USB-C port, 8GB RAM, a 48MP camera, Face ID, and 5G. However, other possibilities include the M4 MacBook Air and M3 iPad Air. Analysts lean towards the iPhone SE 4 being the likely candidate.

(9to5mac.com)

Hardware Apple product launch

DeepSeek iOS App: A Popular AI Tool with Critical Security Flaws

2025-02-07

The wildly popular DeepSeek iOS app, which once topped the App Store charts, has been revealed to have multiple critical security flaws. Previous concerns centered around data breaches exposing chat history and sensitive information from an unsecured database. Now, a new security analysis reveals that DeepSeek disables Apple's App Transport Security (ATS), transmitting unencrypted data. Outdated encryption methods and the aggregation of seemingly innocuous data points further compromise user privacy, potentially exposing users to de-anonymization and even espionage. Security experts strongly advise against using the app until these issues are resolved.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech

AppleCare+ Denies Claim for MacBook Pro Destroyed in Car Crash

2025-01-29

A Redditor's MacBook Pro was totaled in a car accident. Despite having AppleCare+ for accidental damage, Apple denied the claim, citing the extent of the damage. While AppleCare+ covers accidental damage, vague clauses about "similar external causes" and "reckless conduct" allowed Apple to deny coverage. This raises questions about the scope of AppleCare+ protection and whether Apple is misinterpreting its own terms.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech Accidental Damage

Apple and NVIDIA Partner to Accelerate LLM Text Generation

2024-12-18

Apple and NVIDIA have teamed up to integrate Apple's ReDrafter technology into NVIDIA's TensorRT-LLM, resulting in a significant speedup for large language model text generation. ReDrafter combines beam search and dynamic tree attention, achieving significantly faster text generation without sacrificing quality. This collaboration allows developers using NVIDIA GPUs to easily leverage ReDrafter's accelerated token generation for their production LLM applications, achieving a 2.7x speed increase in benchmark tests, reducing latency and power consumption.

(9to5mac.com)

AI

Apple Intelligence: Mixed User Reception for iPhone AI Features

2024-12-16

A recent survey reveals that while AI is a significant factor for iPhone buyers, Apple's current AI features (like writing tools and notification summaries) haven't impressed most users. The majority find them of little to no value. However, the addition of Genmoji and ChatGPT integration in iOS 18.2 could potentially change this perception.

(9to5mac.com)

AI Apple AI user survey