Apple announces iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3: Faster, thinner designs; Touch ID included

Summary: Apple let slip that it had two new iPads to unveil a little sooner than it would've liked, but still had a few tablet-related surprises up its sleeve.
 

(Image: Apple live stream)

Apple had a surprise (two, in fact) up its sleeve for Thursday's event, but let slip a little earlier than it would've liked.
 
At an event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, the technology giant revealed — technically for the second time this week — the iPad Air 2, and the iPad mini 3.
 
Why for the second time? Because on Wednesday it accidentally published a new user guide which leaked details of the two new full-sized and shrunk-down tablets.
 
Starting with the full-sized but super thin iPad Air 2, it sports an improved 9.7-inch Retina display. It also lands with an anti-reflective coating, making it about 56 percent less reflective to outdoor conditions.
 
According to Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller, it's 18 percent thinner than its predecessor at just 6.1 millimeters — and thinner than a pencil.
 
"It's the world's thinnest tablet," Schiller said.
 
It also lands with an improved 64-bit A8X processor — so about 40 percent faster than the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus — for those intensive large-display apps. Graphics are now 180 times faster than the original tablet, Schiller said. The new A8X chip also includes an M8 processor, which supplies walking, running, and climb data.
 
The rear-facing camera has been improved, now able to take 8-megapixel photos and 1080p video, and the front-facing FaceTime camera has a 1.2-megapixel sensor for 720p high-definition video calling.
 
LTE networking has also been improved, allowing for up to 150Mbps. The battery life, however, remains at 10 hours.
 

(Image: Apple live stream)

But the flagship feature, just as it was with the iPhone 5s, is the addition of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
 
It took Apple a little longer to port the long-awaited security feature over to its tablet range, but it's now included as standard on its tablet line-up for the coming holiday season.
 
It's available at $499 for the base 16GB Wi-Fi only version. The 4G LTE version enabled costs a little more at $599 on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile.
 
The new tablet, which lands with iOS 8.1, is available October 17 for pre-order in silver, space grey, and for the first time in gold, as previously rumored.
 
For those who aren't willing to shell out for a full-priced iPad Air, the slimmed down 7.9-inch iPad mini 3 is a little cheaper at $399 for the base 16GB Wi-Fi version. The 4G LTE enabled costs a little more at $529 on selected U.S. carriers.
 
Like its larger sibling, the iPad mini 3 comes with Touch ID.
 
~ Zack Whittaker

Read More

Touch ID on iPhone 6: Still hackable

 

Apple's recently released iPhone 6 is susceptible to the same fingerprint forging attack as the iPhone 5s, according to the latest security research.
 
Mark Rogers, principal security researcher for mobile security firm Lookout, used techniques which are well-known to police officials and prototypers to access the device.
 
The process involves lifting latent prints from the iPhone before creating a mould using a custom circuit-board kit. Then using glue, sometimes mixed with glycerol, Rogers was able to create a replica print that allowed him to trick the Touch ID sensor.
 
However, his experiments did suggest that Apple had improved the sensor, as it rejected fewer legitimate prints and slightly more fake ones than the iPhone 5s version, with Rogers suggesting that it wasn't easy to trick the iPhone 6's security systems.
 
"The process with both of them is exactly the same", he said. "I would not call it a walk in the park, because it took me roughly eight hours to do. Yet someone who is not doing this for research could probably complete the process in two or three hours."
 
The security flaw highlights the major weakness of Touch ID, namely that the information required to access the phone, the user's fingerprints, are left all over the device. With that being said, the fact that Apple limits the number of attempts to five means that that the feature is relatively secure.
 
"I was aided by the fact that I had unlimited attempts, and it took quite a few attempts to get any usable print", Rogers said. "It is not something that I would expect a street criminal to use".
 
However, with the company set to push its own payment service, Apple Pay, stealing an iPhone may become a far more lucrative proposition for thieves, which could cause more users to scrutinize the level of protection offered by Touch ID.
 
"We are talking about putting a lot of financial transactions though the iPhone, and that money will incentivize criminals to refine the process, and that could open up a scenario where there is risk to the consumers", Rogers added.
 
Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
 
~ Barclay Ballard

Read More

Apple issues iOS 8.0.1 for bug fixes, knocks out cell service and Touch ID for some

Summary: Less than a week after the initial release of iOS 8, Apple issues the first update for the platform, fixing several bugs — but introducing a number of new issues.
  

(Image: CNET/CBS Interactive)

Less than a week following the release of iOS 8, Apple has released the first update to the platform.
 
However, for some it brings more problems than it solves.
 
Hundreds on Twitter say they are unable to get a cellular signal following the update, with their iPhones stuck in searching for service mode, or getting the "No signal" message.
 
Others are seeing problems with the Touch ID fingerprint reader after applying the 8.0.1 update.
 
We tested an iPhone 6 running T-Mobile in ZDNet's New York newsroom, and an iPhone 6 Plus running on the 3 network in the UK and can confirm the issue.
 
Several iPads that have been tested however seem to have survived the update unscathed. Also, we are getting unconfirmed reports that the problem is confined to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
 
For now, upgrading to iOS 8.0.1 is not advised, no matter what device you are running.
 
There's no mention as to whether the update brings with it better battery life or fixes some of the stability issues that some users have been experiencing. Also, there is no word as to whether this update includes any security fixes.
 
iOS 8.0.1 brings with it the following improvements and bug fixes, including updates to HealthKit, and addressing third-party keyboard issues.
 
The update is available either as an over-the-air (OTA) update or via iTunes.
 
The update is available for the iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later, iPad mini and later, and iPod touch (fifth-generation).
 
~ Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Read More

Apple iPhone fingerprint reader confirmed as easy to hack

Summary: So much for Apple's newest security trick. Alas, it seems that an old way of beating fingerprint scanners works on the new iPhones too.
  
It's official. Security researchers Nick DePetrillo and Robert Graham have confirmed Germany-based Chaos Computer Club (CCC) hackers’ claim that they bypassed the fingerprint reader in Apple's iPhone 5s, called "Touch ID".

Apple iPhone 5s Touch ID fingerprint scanner isn't really all that secure after all. (Credit: Apple)

There was nothing fancy about this hack. As the CCC explained, "First, the fingerprint of the enrolled user is photographed with 2400 [dots per inch] DPI resolution. The resulting image is cleaned up, inverted, and laser printed with 1200 DPI onto a transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white wood glue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist, and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone."

 

That's it. No fancy magical hacker tricks. No cyber-ninja stealth entry into Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA. Simply the same-old kitchen-sink technology that's been used to break fingerprint scanners for years.

 

For accomplishing this, Starbug, the first hacker to show off the method has been awarded more than $11,000 and other swag. including bottles of alcohol, a portrait, a book of erotica, and a free patent application. Not bad!

 

DePetrillo and Graham had been sure that the iPhone 5s’ fingerprint scanner could be breached. What surprised them was how easy it was. Graham wrote, "We claimed it'd be harder. We assumed that a higher resolution sensor wouldn't be so simply defeated with just a higher resolution camera. We bet money. We lost (and Starbug of the CCC won)."

 

Graham continued, "Many people claim this hack is 'too much trouble.' This is profoundly wrong. Just because it's too much trouble for you doesn't mean it's too much trouble for a private investigator hired by your former husband. Or the neighbor's kid. Or an FBI agent. … This sort of stuff is easy, easy, easy -- you just need to try."

 

That said, this "doesn't mean Touch ID is completely useless." wrote Graham. "Half the population doesn't lock their phone at all because it's too much trouble entering a 4 digit PIN every time they want to use it. If any of them choose to use Touch ID security instead of no security, then it's a win for security."

 

Just keep in mind that if your job requires you to be secure on your phone, the iPhone 5s’ Touch ID isn't the fail-proof security method that you might have thought it would be.

~ Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Read More