Maccast 2015.08.05 - Show #536

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Opening

Opening Music

Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles

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News

New Apple TV in September

MacRumors says according to Buzzfeed’s sources we will get a new Apple TV in September at the same event where Apple will announce the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

They say the new Apple TV will be slimmer and pack in more features including:

An A8 processor,

Touch-pad based remote that's "drastically improved" compared to the current version

A new operating system that supports a full App Store, developer APIs, and Siri voice control

More on-board storage to accommodate apps.

One thing that might be a disappointment to some is Buzzfeeds source say Apple will NOT launch a new Apple TV streaming service

Apple is still trying to work out deals with television and content providers

They don’t rule it out before the end of 2015, but claim sometime in 2016 is more likely.

Hints of new iMacs

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says hew expects Apple to update their iMac lineup this quarter according to MacRumors

In the refresh he expects Apple to add new processors and improved display quality mostly in the form of greater color saturation by using a different LED phosphor material called KSF

Beyond the retina screen update to the 27-inch model last October, Apple hasn’t significantly updated the iMac line since September 2013

Kuo doesn’t say which models specifically would get the updates, but it seems likely that now more next gen Broadwell’s and soon Intel Skylake’s will be available that Apple may finally update the entire line.

Another hint that new iMacs may be on the way came via the sixth OS X 10.11 El Capitan beta

Consomac discovered references in the beta code to a Mac with a 4096×2304 resolution which could potentially refer to a 4K 21.5-inch Retina iMac display

Since Apple update the 27-inch to retina many have wondered when the 21-inch would get the same treatment

New models could also help Apple boost sales along with their "free Beats headphones" back to school promotions.

Apple Wireless Service? Not likely

Business Insider ran a story claiclaimingmg that Apple was in early talks to launch its own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in both the United States and Europe

They even went so far as to claim that some Apple source told them that Apple was testing the service right now in the United States.

As an MVNO Apple would lease space from carriers like AT&T or T-Mobile and then sell coverage and data plans under their own brand.

The Business Insider piece does note that this is supposedly a long term plan and it could take up to five years to come together.

Since Apple first hinted that they might be developing a cell phone there have been rumors that they might provide an MVNO service.

To put all this to rest after the Business Insider piece came up Apple issued an official statement stating that it has "not discussed and is not planning" to become its own cellular carrier in the future.

Well, that’s that.

Siri might become a more personal personal assistant

Business Insider claims Apple employees have been asked to test new Siri services that would allow the digital assistant and answer and transcribe your phone messages.

If you were not available she could answer the call, instead of sending it to voicemail, and take a message.

The message would then be transcribed and sent you via iCloud

They also claim that, given permission, Siri could provide the caller your location and details on why you couldn’t answer the phone.

The new service could appear in iOS 10 sometime in 2016 assuming it turns out to be useful and that the project stays on track.

iPhone 6c may not happen this year

According to the latest info from DigiTimes Apple originally intended to develop the successor to the 5c using a 20nm technology

Now they claim Apple wants to use 14- to 16-nanometer FinFET chips manufactured by suppliers TSMC and Samsung.

This would mean a more powerful and energy efficient phone, but also means that Apple might not ship a 6c until the second quarter of 2016.

This latest info would back up info from multiple sources that have hinted at a low-cost device coming next year.

DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE found, "in the wild"

DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE is an OS X 10.10 Yosemite vulnerability that could allow malicious code on your Mac to escalate its privileges—gain "root" access—and potentially exploit the system.

The anti-malware company named Malwarebytes has reported that they have discovered an attack using this vulnerability "in the wild".

This means that it’s possible you could stumble upon and get exploited by this attack, but do you need to be concerned?

The current exploit supposedly is used to launch something called VSInstaller, which then installs junkware on the Mac.

DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE has already been patched by Apple in the OS X 10.11 El r beta and in the OS X 10.10.5 beta, but has not issued any update for 10.10.4

Apple just released a third 10.10.5 beta to developers, so that patch should be here soon.

Apple has already revoked the certificate used for the junkware, so Gatekeeper will prevent it from being launched without explicit user intervention.

Apple has also begun to update OS X's automatic anti-malware definitions to recognize and reject the junkware, so it won't be able to be installed at all.

You can also generally protect yourself by making sure Gatekeeper is enabled

System Preferences > Security & Privacy

Go to the General tab.

Make sure under 'Allow apps downloaded from:' is not set to 'Anywhere'

If it is, click the lock icon and enter your admin user name and password to allow changes and then change the setting to 'Mac App Store and identified developers' or 'Mac App Store'

Only download and install apps from trusted sources (developers and site you know and are familiar with).

If there is any question, do your research. Google, investigate, ask questions.

Now get Beats 1 'replays'

Up until now if you missed a show on Beats 1 it was just like terrestrial radio, too bad.

You could, for some shows, get a playlist and hear the tracks that were spun, but got none of the DJ comments or interactions.

That has now changed. Apple has added Beats 1 Replays for many shows.

So how can you listen?

Hit the Radio tab in the Apple Music app.

Tap the Beats 1 logo instead of Listen Now.

Scroll down to Featured Shows and tap the name of the DJ you want to listen to.

Tap Connect and select the show you want that has "Replay" in the title.

Feedback, commentary, opinions