Hackers to Re-Lock iPhones

(NEWSER) - Apple today issued an update for its iPhone operating system, patching a flaw in its text-messaging operation that security experts say could have allowed serious hackers to “take over every iPhone in the world,” AllThingsD reports. “Contrary to what’s been reported,” a company spokesman said, “no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit.” More»

Apple plays hardball as update shuts down all hacked phones, not just unlocked ones

(NEWSER) - Apple’s latest firmware update doesn’t just shut down unlocked iPhones as threatened; it shuts down all phone hacks, including homemade applications, ringtones created by third parties, and the ability to use the phone as a drive. Even some unhacked phones have become completely inoperable. That’s enraged the iPhone community, ComputerWorld says, but Apple refuses to help anyone who modified their phone. More»

Ducked Safari's default block on user tracking

(NEWSER) - Google has been quietly using computer code to get around default privacy settings on Apple's Safari browser—both on iPhones and computers. Safari automatically prevents tracking techniques that other browsers allow, including the use of cookies. But Google coding "tricks" Safari into allowing the tracking, the Wall Street Journal reports. Here's how: Safari OKs tracking in one case—when a person needs to interact with a site to, for instance, submit a form. Google placed code in some of its ads that fooled Safari into thinking the user was submitting a form to Google—an invisible one. And, ta-da, Google would get the OK to install a cookie. More»

Twitter, Path blamed in privacy controversy

(NEWSER) - Leading smartphone apps are taking a lot more of our information than we realize. If you use Twitter's "Find Friends" feature, the company receives every phone number and email address in your address book—a fact that Twitter hadn't clarified, the Los Angeles Times reports. The company now says it will fix the problem. But it's just one of many companies storing user information with a view toward ultimately using it for advertising. More»

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint lose out by subsidizing Apple's cell phone

(NEWSER) - Apple's profits are soaring , but at the expense of cell phone carriers who subsidize iPhone sales. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all pay about $600 for iPhones that they resell to customers for $200. The carriers figure they'll make up the loss with monthly cell phone bills—but Verizon and AT&T stock have both dropped, and Sprint's losses have ballooned by 40%, since they started selling the coveted iPhone, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»