Apple’s and Microsoft's Failures, Blunders

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 29, 2023

• Gizmodo ☛ 2023-10-26 [Older] Apple’s Reportedly Working on Patch For iPhone 15 BMW Charging Issue

• John Gruber ☛ 2023-10-25 [Older] ★ Apple Again Hikes Prices for Its Media Services

• Gizmodo ☛ 2023-10-25 [Older] Apple Pay Later Is Here to Saddle You With Impulse Buying Debt

• Engadget ☛ 2023-10-25 [Older] Apple Pay Later is available to everyone in the US [Ed: Apple see poverty, offers loans now]

• Engadget ☛ 2023-10-25 [Older] Apple TV+ prices have doubled in just over a year

• Gizmodo ☛ 2023-10-24 [Older] Apple Called Out for ‘Scientifically Inaccurate’ Greenwashing

• Gizmodo ☛ 2023-10-20 [Older] This iOS 17 Bug Is Killing My Sleep

• Engadget ☛ 2023-10-24 [Older] Microsoft is rolling in dough, no thanks to Surface [Ed: Surface is a failed product line, this is harping about nothing]

• Engadget ☛ 2023-10-26 [Older] iFixit now sells official replacement parts for Microsoft Surface devices [Ed: Surface is basically dead though]

• Gizmodo ☛ 2023-10-27 [Older] UN Asks Google, Microsoft to Help It Figure Out How Risky AI Is [Ed: Just another marketing hype opportunity]

• Nzyme.org ☛ Our view on CVE-2023-42846

  On Wednesday, October 25, Apple released a product update that includes a fix for the recently discovered vulnerability CVE-2023-42846: An information leak leading to disclosure of the device MAC address even if WiFi MAC address randomization is enabled.

  We found that the reporting around this vulnerability was not providing enough context and want to take this opportunity to explain our view on it.

• Dedoimedo ☛ Windows 11 is still totally useless

  I keep a copy of Windows 11 Home on my IdeaPad 3 test laptop. Not because I like it or want it, but because I am keen to know what Microsoft has in store for the desktop users. I like to test and tinker and rant, and after all, the laptop already came with a Windows license, so I might as well make the best use of it. My impression of this operating system has been less than lukewarm. There's no point to Windows 11. We're not in the 90s where system updates are big and amazing and meaningful. Nah. It's all pretty much the same.

  By and large, when I take into account all the different factors, like the not-really-necessary TPM requirement and such, plus the overload of ads and silly features and degraded responsiveness in the UI, for me, it's quite fair to say that 11 is the new Vista. And now, I've had another round of testing done after a long lull, so let's see what happened.

• The Register UK ☛ Side channel attacks take bite out of Apple silicon with iLeakage exploit

  The research shows how a remote attacker could steal secrets such as Gmail inbox data, text messages, password manager-supplied credentials via autofill fields, and other miscellaneous information like watch histories from YouTube.

  The attack can be launched against Macs, iPhones, and iPads running Apple's A-series or M-series chips. For macOS, the attack only works on Safari, but for iOS and iPadOS, there's a much larger attack surface.

• Gizmodo ☛ Google Maps Now Uses AI to Find Where People Are Having Fun

  Google Maps uses artificial intelligence to analyze billions of photos shared by the app’s community and focuses on specific activities. Google says the AI will help users “discover new spots that match exactly what you’re looking for.” For those who have nothing to do organized search results can inspire ideas by searching “things to do” in the app.