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Tag: Apple iOS 6

  • Apple is Hiring Software Engineers to Improve the iOS 6 Maps App

    It’s clear now that Apple screwed up when it gave Google Maps the boot, and now there is evidence that even Apple knows it.

    Ycombinator forums user hownottowrite pointed out this week that Apple listed six new software engineer positions specifically for its iOS Map Display team last week. The job description of the positions reads as follows:

    The iOS Map Display team is looking for a proactive and hardworking software engineer to join our team. Our team is responsible for displaying map content for the Maps application on iOS. It is used by millions of customers and it’s the best mapping program on any mobile platform. Our team is also responsible for map display via MapKit, the iOS framework that displays maps used by countless applications on the App Store.

    Best mapping program on any mobile platform? That clearly isn’t the case.

    When iOS 6 was released for download on older iPhones on Wednesday, the deficiencies of the Map app quickly became apparent. Pictures and reports of deformed roadways and missing, moved, or misnamed roads, building, and towns can now be found all over the web. Boy Genius Report points users to The Amazing iOS 6 Maps Tumblr blog, where a wide selection of the new Maps app’s failures can be seen.

    It seems clear from Apple’s desperation to get some new Maps engineers on-staff that the company won’t be crawling back to Google anytime soon. iPhone users will have to endure until Apple can make a maps app that “just works.”

    Luckily for iPhone users, Google hasn’t abandoned them. Google is working hard to have an Apple App Store stand-alone version of Google Maps available before Christmas.

    (via BGR)

  • iPhone Security Flaw Allows Spoofed Texting

    A security researcher specializing in Apple’s iOS platform today outlined a method to spoof SMS messages on the iPhone. This could allow text messages to be sent that appear to be from another source, meaning the exploit is ripe for phishing scams. For example, a message could be sent, appearing to be from a customers’ bank, asking for private account information.

    The researcher, called pod2g, stated in his blog post that the security flaw runs through every version of iOS, including the latest beta of iOS 6. He implored Apple to patch the exploit, fearing that some pirates already know of the exploit.

    Pod2g explained that SMS messages are converted into Protocol Description Unit (PDU) before being sent. The exploit involves having an account in an SMS gateway and sending texts in raw PDU format. He stated that there are already tools online that can do this, and that he has created one for the iPhone 4 himself. Pod2g explains the next step in his blog post:

    In the text payload, a section called UDH (User Data Header) is optional but defines lot of advanced features not all mobiles are compatible with. One of these options enables the user to change the reply address of the text. If the destination mobile is compatible with it, and if the receiver tries to answer to the text, he will not respond to the original number, but to the specified one. Most carriers don’t check this part of the message, which means one can write whatever he wants in this section : a special number like 911, or the number of somebody else.

    The reason this exploit works on an iPhone, pod2g states, is that the iPhone shows a text as coming from the reply-to number. He suggests that Apple change the implementation of its SMS messaging to show both the original number and the reply-to number.

    (via BGR)

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: Concept Video Puts New iPhone’s Pieces Together

    We’ve learned an awful lot about Apple’s next iPhone (probably called “the new iPhone,” rather than the iPhone 5 or iPhone 6). There have been a slew of details leaked about the iPhone’s design, centered largely on a few sets of images that show the redesigned case and front panel. There’s even been a hands-on video of the new iPhone’s case being compared to the iPhone 4S.

    We also know a fair bit about iOS 6, which will likely be revealed at next week’s WWDC 2012 Apple keynote, and will launch alongside the new iPhone (probably in the fall).

    What we don’t know, though, is how all this will fit together. We have a good idea of what the iPhone’s new design is, but what will it actually look like? Well, a concept video released yesterday gives us a little bit of insight in that department. The video shows the new iPhone in black and white next to each other. It includes the rumored fifth row of apps on the the iOS home screen, and reflects the design of the case shown in the images that have come out so far. Check it out for yourself below:

    Assuming these part leaks have been genuine – that is, assuming the leaked case doesn’t belong on an iPhone prototype or something like that – then it’s a fair bet that what you’re just saw is really close to what the next iPhone will look like.