iPhone Slowdowns : Chinese Consumer Group Latest to Question Apple

Despite apologising for slowing down iPhone models with ageing batteries and offering a new battery replacement programme, Apple continues to face questions regarding the issue. Now, a Chinese consumer group has reportedly asked the company for more information regarding slowing down older iPhones and has demanded an answer before this Friday. From consumers groups like these to government authorities worldwide, complaints, investigations, and lawsuits over the iPhone slowdown have mired Apple since the issue came to light.

As per a Xinhua report, the Shanghai Consumer Council is the latest organisation to question Apple over the issue. It has sent an inquiry letter to the Cupertino giant over the slowdown of older iPhones with ageing batteries. The council has reportedly demanded the cause of the performance as well as remedial measures taken to resolve it. The report says that the council has received 2,615 complaints on Apple products and services last year, compared to 964 complaints in 2015.

Apple had recently apologised for slowing down iPhone models and offered a new battery replacement programme. In a post on December 28, Apple had apologised over its handling of the battery issue and said it would make several changes. Under the new offer, Apple had reduced the price of a replacement for out-of-warranty batteries (in iPhone 6 or later) from $79 to $29. "We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down," Apple said in its posting. "We apologise."

In December last year, Apple had acknowledged that iPhone software has the effect of slowing down some phones with battery problems. The company had said the problem was ageing lithium batteries delivering power unevenly, which caused iPhone handsets to shutdown unexpectedly to protect the delicate circuits inside. However, Apple had denied that it had ever done anything to intentionally shorten the life of a product.
Apple has been facing several lawsuits regarding the issue, all around the world. According to a report, there has been at least 30 separate iPhone slowdown class actions lawsuits against the company, in the US itself. This is on top of government investigations that Apple faces in some countries. Another reportsays cases have been filed in Israel, France, and Korea as well.

Read More

Bitcoin Price Drops 18 Percent Over Fears of Ban in South Korea

Bitcoin tumbled 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week trough close to $11,000, after reports that a ban on trading of cryptocurrencies in South Korea was still an option drove fears grew of a wider regulatory crackdown. Bitcoin's slide triggered a massive selloff across the broader cryptocurrency market, with biggest rival Ethereum down 23 percent on the day, according to trade website Coinmarketcap, and the next-biggest, Ripple, plunging 33 percent.

South Korean news website Yonhap reported that Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon had told a local radio station that the government would be coming up with a set of measures to clamp down on the "irrational" cryptocurrency investment craze.

South Korea had said on Monday that its plans to ban virtual coin exchanges had not yet been finalised, as government agencies were still in talks to decide how to regulate the market.

Bitcoin slid on the latest news, trading as low as $11,191.59 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, down 18 percent on the day, for a short period putting the digital currency on track for its biggest one-day fall in three years.

"It's mainly been regulatory issues which are haunting the cryptocurrency, with news around South Korea's further crackdown on trading the driver today," said Think Markets chief strategist Naeem Aslam, who holds what he described as "substantial" amounts of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.

"But we maintain our stance. We do not think that the complete banning of cryptocurrencies is possible," he said.

Cryptocurrencies enjoyed a bumper year in 2017 as mainstream investors entered the market and as an explosion in so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs) - digital token-based fundraising rounds - drove demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the second-biggest digital unit.

The latest tumble leaves Bitcoin down more than 40 percent from the record high around $20,000 it hit in mid-December, wiping about $130 billion off its "market cap" - the unit price multiplied by the total number of Bitcoins that have been released into the market.

The news from South Korea came as it emerged a senior Chinese central banker had said authorities should ban centralised trading of virtual currencies as well as individuals and businesses that provide related services, according to an internal memo from a government meeting seen by Reuters.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Chinese authorities plan to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralised trading.

"(It) seems like it's uncertainty spooking the markets ... with regulations unclear," said Charles Hayter, founder of data analysis website Cryptocompare. "(Traders) are taking profits on the increased risk scenarios going forward."

A director at Germany's central bank said on Monday that any attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies must be on a global scale as national or regional rules would be hard to enforce on a virtual, borderless community.

By 1000 GMT Bitcoin was trading down 16 percent on the day at around $11,500 on Bitstamp.

Read More

'AdultSwine' Android malware exposes 'millions' of children to porn

A NEW STRAIN of Android malware dubbed 'AdultSwine' infiltrated more than 60 apps and exposed potentially 'millions' of children to pornographic material.

AdultSwine was first uncovered by researchers at Check Point security, who claim that the threat's malicious code had hidden inside around 60 apps in the Google Play Store. These apps have been downloaded onto as many as seven million Android devices, according to the researchers, and a number were targeted squarely at children.

This is especially bad news at AdultSwine, once installed on a device, would display adverts from the web that were often highly inappropriate and pornographic.

"As for the ads being displayed, they come from two main sources; the first is that of the main ad providers, which forbid such illegitimate display of their ads," Check Point said.

"The second is the malicious code's own ad library, which contains ads of an offensive nature, including pornographic ads. All these are displayed to children while playing the game that the app is masquerading as."

As well as throwing up explicit content, AdultSwine also attempted to trick users into downloading other apps, including dodgy 'security' apps that, ironically, promised to help protect the device against malicious content. The malware did so by displaying advertisements in the victim's web browser that claimed the device was infected or prompted them to download an app to remove a virus.

AdultSwine also attempted to get the user to sign up for premium services, such as text messaging scams, which would charge the victim and generate profit for the attackers.

While many of the infected apps were relatively obscure, Check Point notes that a handful of them were popular. A game called 'Five Nights Survival Craft', for example, had as many as five million downloads, while a kid-focused app called 'Mcqueen Car Racing Game' had been downloaded one million times. A full list of infected apps can be viewed on the Check Point blog.

However, you needn't worry too much, as Google said in a statement that it has removed the infected apps from the Play Store and disabled the developers' accounts. 

"We appreciate Check Point's work to help keep users safe," a Google spokesperson added.

Read More

Hackers Steal 'Stellar' Cryptocurrency Worth $400,000

Hackers broke into the digital wallet provider BlackWallet and stole its 'Stellar' cryptocurrency worth $400,000 (roughly Rs. 2.5 crores), the media reported. According to CNN, an unidentified group hijacked the server that hosts BlackWallet and stores the virtual currency.

"In a statement sent out by its founder, open source online Stellar wallet BlackWallet has claimed to have been hacked," CNN reported late on Monday.

The attack apparently was a phishing attack aimed at the BlackWallet's hosting provider.

"Posting on Reddit, user 'orbit84' posted that a hacker gained access to his hosting provider account and changed the DNS settings to his own hosted version of BlackWallet. The attackers' wallet, which the author posted a link to, appears to have amassed around $400,000 worth of cryptocurrency Stellar," the report added.

BlackWallet tried to warn users about the attack via forums. However, many users continued to log in and lose money, according to tech news site Bleeping Computer.

The hackers have reportedly moved the money to Bittrex - a virtual currency exchange, where they are likely to convert it into another digital currency to hide their tracks.

Earlier this month, Marko Kobal - the co-founder of Slovenian Cryptocurrency mining market NiceHash that suffered a hack in December - stepped down as the company's CEO. The loss was about 4,736.42 Bitcoins, worth more than $60 million. Cryptocurrencies have been gaining interesting over the past few years, and became a topic of discussion for people across the world when Bitcoin's valued soared to nearly $20,000 late last year.

Read More