O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: local

  • iOS researcher finds WhatsApp leaves traces of conversations behind

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    Well, at least the world of tech security isn’t boring.

    Upon examining disk images taken from the most recent version of the app, iOS researcher Jonathan Zdiarski discovered that the software retains and stores a forensic trace of the chat logs even after the chats have been deleted, creating a potential treasure trove of information for anyone with physical access to the device. The same data could also be recoverable through any remote backup systems in place.

    In most cases, the data is marked as deleted by the app itself — but because it has not been overwritten, it is still recoverable through forensic tools. Zdziarski attributed the problem to the SQLite library used in coding the app, which does not overwrite by default.

    (more…)

  • Rumor: Apple making progress in negotiations with TV networks, looking to launch TV streaming service in the fall

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    Apple’s apparently still in negotiations with the networks for its upcoming TV streaming service.

    A recent article in the New York Post has Apple talking with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox with Apple’s 30 percent revenue share being the point of contention. Still, rumors have it that Apple is targeting a late fall launch of its new TV product.

    The current word around the campfire is that Disney or CBS will apparently be among the first to sign onto the deal. Apple also seems interested in getting Disney’s ESPN and Discovery channels folded in along with local live TV.

    (more…)

  • Web site helps you find stores with Retina iPad minis

    AppleTracker-gridI should have remembered this when I was talking about the Retina iPad mini availability in San Francisco, but I had completely forgotten about it. Thanks to the MacObserver, I rediscovered this handy resource. If you don’t want to wait the 5-10 day wait time for shipping that Apple has listed for the Retina iPad mini, head on over to Apple-Tracker.com and see which store has what in stock… which.store.has …well, you know what I mean. The site currently has the options to find stock of the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and the Retina iPad mini. Pick the device from the main screen, choose the model from the drop-down menus, and then enter your zip code and you will get a handy grid of all the stores in your area and whether or not they have the model you selected. Looks like I may be headed to Union Square today after all.

  • Rumor: Apple TV software update expected for September 18th, will provide additional AirPlay features

    There shall be nifty new Apple TV software in the relatively near future…

    Per AllThingsD, sources have indicated that come next week, Apple will update its set-top box, the Apple TV, with new software that will offer enhanced AirPlay capabilities with the software update reportedly set to arrive on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

    While Apple apparently isn’t planning on updating the Apple TV hardware, the company is set to launch an “internal overhaul” that will “tweak” the current AirPlay feature, which allows users to stream content from their iOS device or Mac to the set-top box.

    After the update, users will reportedly be able to stream purchased content from the iTunes Store to another person’s Apple TV, even if it isn’t set up with their Apple ID and password. That media will reportedly be streamed directly from the cloud, rather than requiring a local device.

    The tweak gives the Apple TV an ability offered by Google’s new Chromecast, a US$35 media streaming dongle the search giant launched this summer.

    Details on Apple’s alleged software updates headed for the Apple TV were first revealed last week, suggesting that the latest version will gain additional channels, content and functionality. Apple has been gradually adding new channels to the device in recent months, with the latest push supplying content from Vevo, Disney, the Weather Channel, and the Smithsonian Channel. Prior to that, in June, Apple added HBO Go, WatchESPN, Sky News, CrunchyRoll, and Qello.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Rumor: ABC working on subscriber-based streaming app to bring network’s live programming to iOS devices

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    You can’t knock additional streaming options if they’re offered to you…

    The Walt Disney Company, while sorting out the future of the online video Web site Hulu, has an app in the works that may render Hulu passé for some people.

    Per the New York Times, the app will live stream ABC programming to the phones and tablets of cable and satellite subscribers. The app could become available to some subscribers this year, according to people briefed on the project, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

    With the app, ABC, a subsidiary of Disney, will become the first of the American broadcasters to provide a live Internet stream of national and local programming to people who pay for cable or satellite. The subscriber-only arrangement, sometimes called “TV Everywhere” in industry circles, preserves the cable business model that is crucial to the bottom lines of broadcasters, while giving subscribers more of what they seem to want — mobile access to TV shows. The arrangement could extend the reach of ads that appear on ABC as well.

    Disney already distributes similar live streaming and on-demand apps, known as “Watch” apps, for ESPN and the Disney Channel. Special hurdles exist, however, for the ABC app, in part because of contracts between the network and the companies that produce some of its shows that were written before mobile phone video streaming was even possible. Other complexities involve ABC’s local stations, which might — if not courted properly — feel threatened by an app.

    But ABC, seeing shifts in consumer behavior, is pressing forward. The network has started to talk with stations about how to include them in the live streaming app. Illustrating the difficult contractual issues, ABC offhandedly first mentioned a forthcoming Watch ABC app in a news release nine months ago, when it signed a deal with Comcast to make several Watch Disney apps available to Comcast subscribers.

    But the network live streaming ability is inching closer to fruition, the people briefed on the project said. A spokesman for ABC declined to comment.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.