AppleMagazine #159

Siri, meet Alexa. Amazon is introducing a voice-recognition service called Amazon Echo that comes with a speakerlike wireless device just in time for the holiday shopping season. Responding to voice commands after the “wake word” Alexa, the device offers updates on news and weather and provides hands-free voice control for Amazon services such as Prime Music. It has an accompanying app for tablets and smartphones. Amazon has been expanding its offerings for members of its $99 annual Prime loyalty club and other Amazon shoppers. It launched a smartphone, the Fire, earlier this year, and has offered a set-top video streaming device, a streaming video service, grocery delivery, music streaming and original TV shows such as the critically acclaimed “Transparent” starring Jeffrey Tambor. The Echo, its latest offering, is available by…

BlackBerry, which has completed the first phase of its two-year turnaround plan, is now focused on profitability and will not spread itself thin by attempting to launch too many new devices, its chief executive said. John Chen, who took the reins at the struggling mobile technology company in November 2013, has moved rapidly to try to get the one-time investor darling back on track. The company has sold assets, struck partnerships to lower manufacturing costs and broaden app offerings, and raised cash via the sale of real estate holdings in its hometown of Waterloo, Ontario. “Once we turn this company to profitability again, I will do everything I can to never lose money ever again,” Chen told Reuters in an interview this week. “That is definitely something I am very…

SURPRISE NEWS ALSO SEES JOHN LASSETER’S DIRECTORIAL RETURN Do you remember Toy Story, that staggering 1995 box office success that firmly installed the name of the Pixar animation studio in the minds of movie-goers everywhere? Or what about either of its sequels, particularly 2010’s Toy Story 3, which saw the boy at the centre of the saga - Andy - mark his transition from childhood to adulthood by handing his old toys to a young girl, Bonnie? Well, we’re now set to get a fourth addition to the franchise. So seemingly perfect was the ending of Toy Story 3, that few people ever contemplated that the series would make a big screen return. Fair enough, so Woody and Buzz haven’t exactly faded into obscurity, having continued to appear in various…

Hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to customers’ card data, Home Depot said Thursday. The nation’s largest home improvement chain had disclosed the massive, months-long breach of 56 million debit and credit cards in September. Home Depot’s breach surpassed Target’s pre-Christmas 2013 data theft, which compromised 40 million credit and debit cards and hurt sales and profits. Since late last year, Michaels, SuperValu and Neiman Marcus have been among a string of retailers that have also reported breaches, though they were smaller. While shoppers appear to have grown numb to the hacks, the breaches have forcing changes in retailing. Target’s breach pushed banks, retailers and card companies to increase security by speeding the adoption of microchips in U.S. credit and debit cards, which supporters say are more secure.…

WHY WE AREN’T ENTERING A NEW ERA OF APPLE MALWARE Over the last week or so, we’ve seen some curious headlines in the world of Apple: those talking in sensationalist tones about a possible new era of Apple malware and viruses. It’s all come about as a result of supposed threats to iOS and OS X called “WireLurker” and “Masque Attack”. Is there much reason for you to panic? As ever, the answer is “no”, but also as ever when it comes to all things Apple, it helps to know the exact reasons why. First of all, if you’re wondering how the Cupertino firm could have possibly lost its reputation of being almost completely imperious to the malware and viruses that have long plagued more ‘open’ platforms, don’t fret -…

At the beginning of “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” the recently released installment in Activision’s blockbuster military shooter franchise, the player is dumped from the sky in a drop pod onto an urban battlefield, smashing into skyscrapers and landing in a futuristic, war-torn rendition of a city that’s rarely depicted in video games: Seoul, South Korea. It’s a “Wizard of Oz” moment for the “Call of Duty” series. The interactive medium has long built digital playgrounds based on real-world locales. However, recent technological leaps, as well as an endless string of games set in ubiquitous locations like New York and Los Angeles, have motivated developers of some of the year’s biggest and most anticipated games to boldly go where they haven’t before. “I think designers are on the lookout for…