A high-tech tinkerer has managed to get Apple’s iOS to run on the Nintendo Switch. Don’t get too excited, though, as PatRyk on X wryly admits they have created “the world’s slowest ‘iPhone’.” Booting this Nintendo ‘iPhone’ currently takes 20 minutes, and all the apps they tried crash – but it’s a start.

Baby steps

While the gaming tech world is all a flutter with the recently launched Switch 2, PatRyk spent two days attempting to shoehorn Apple’s mobile OS onto the best-selling hybrid console. This enthusiast’s modesty seems to be matched by their patience, as the new Nintendo ‘iPhone’ takes 20 minutes to boot. We wonder how many times they waited that length of time, or even longer, for the boot process to hang or otherwise fail?

Using the mobile OS also sounds like an incredible life-sapping chore, with this ‘iPhone’ in its current state. PatRyk says that the system “kernel panics every 2nd thing you do, can’t open any apps (they all time out and crash).”

At this stage, the project might sound dire, but it shows that running iOS on the original Switch is possible – it just needs optimization. But you aren’t going to be ditching your real Apple iPhone for a Switch any time soon.

Underlying technology - the versatile QEMU

Earlier this week, a team of security researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Ruhr University Bochum presented a pair of papers on two side-channel speculative execution attacks targeted at Apple silicon, dubbed SLAP and FLOP [h/t Bleeping Computer]. A dedicated web page for the attacks, showing some examples, documentation, and links to the original two papers, is also available at the aptly-named URL Predictors.Fail.

So, what are these attacks? To understand either, you first need a working understanding of what speculative execution attacks are. In March of last year, I covered a speculative execution attack called GhostRace, and back in 2016, the one-two punch of the Meltdown and Spectre attacks helped introduce the concept into the wider public consciousness. "Speculative execution" isn't a bad thing in and of itself— you can think of it as a performance optimization that lets a CPU "speculate" what it needs to execute next— but unless it's tightly controlled, it is prone to security exploits that are near-impossible to fix without performance degradation.

So, SLAP and FLOP may be new speculative execution attacks, but the fundamentals of how they work are well known.

SLAP, or Data Speculation Attacks via Load Address Prediction, functions by exploiting Apple Silicon's Load Address Predictor, which guesses the next memory address the CPU will use. By exploiting this functionality and forcing it to guess wrong, information like emails and browsing history can effectively be stolen. This impacts Apple CPUs, starting with Apple M2 and A15.

Meanwhile, FLOP, or False Load Output Predictions, exploits Apple Silicon's Load Value Predictor, which guesses data values to be returned by the memory on the next CPU cycle. If this is exploited and forced to guess wrong, memory safety can be bypassed entirely to leak things like credit card information and location history.

In a statement made to Bleeping Computer, Apple said: "We want to thank the researchers for their collaboration as this proof of concept advances our understanding of these types of threats, (but) based on our analysis, we do not believe this issue poses an immediate risk to our users."

The researchers do note that attacks actually using these exploits have yet to be spotted in the wild after initially discovering and reporting them to Apple in March (SLAP) and September (FLOP) in 2024, but also that users hoping to avoid them entirely can still disable JavaScript in Safari (tested browser) on their Apple devices until further notice. Doing this will introduce lots of site compatibility issues, though, so hopefully Apple actually patches this sooner rather than later.

Despite Apple’s initial rejection of the emulator app and the developers’ initial decision to give up, UTM SE was approved and released on the App Store Sunday. The “retro PC emulator” allows you to run classic operating systems, software, and games on the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro.

UTM is a popular alternative on the Mac to applications like Parallels, VMWare, and VirtualBox. It acts as a graphical interface to the command-line-driven emulator Qemu. It’s never been officially available to iOS users, though, because Apple didn’t allow emulators of any sort on the iOS App Store until April 2024.

When Turing Software first submitted UTM SE to the App Store, Apple rejected the app. Apple also refused to notarize it for third-party app stores in the European Union. Part of the problem was that the app relied on Just In Time (JIT) compilation to provide a satisfactory emulation experience. JIT compilation means compiling code as a program is running rather than beforehand, something Apple deems a security risk on iOS.

Gaming emulators like DolphiniOS have also been rejected for needing JIT support. DolphiniOS depends on the technique to emulate newer Nintendo consoles. UTM used it to translate PowerPC code to run on the Arm-based chips found in current Apple devices.

Unwilling to resubmit the app without JIT support because doing so meant a subpar experience, it seemed as if UTM would not come to iPhones and iPads without jailbreaking the devices. However, help for the project came from another Qemu developer. Qemu is the actual emulation layer UTM uses to allow you to run software as if it was on an old i486 or PowerPC-based Mac.

The team implemented a version of the Qemu Tiny-Code Threaded Interpreter (TCTI). Qemu TCTI interprets the code rather than compiling it, allowing Turing Software to get around the JIT ban. Mind you, this results in a rather slow experience even by the standards of the emulated hardware. That’s why the app includes the “SE” tag at the end — “SE” stands for “Slow Edition.”

That being said, the approval is good news for other emulator developers. For the more general audience, you can install UTM SE from the App Store to run classic games or operating systems on emulated x86, PPC, and RISC-V architectures.

It’s been less than two months since the release of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14, but Apple is already well underway on the subsequent versions of those popular operating systems. Apple has settled on a yearly upgrade pace for its major software platform, and with that quick iteration has come questions about bugs and stability. According to a new report, Craig Federighi, Apple Senior VP of Software Engineering, temporarily paused the development of iOS 18 and macOS 15 to meet quality targets.

The goal for the pause was to give programmers some breathing room to deal with a plethora of bugs that have crept up early in the gestation process, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple’s primary goal is to fix the bugs causing performance problems or breaking apps to ensure customers have a stable experience on day one. Once those major issues are resolved, then work can proceed on adding new features that will become the highlight of operating systems like iOS 18 and macOS 15.

According to Gurman, the one-week “pause” was initiated last week after senior management identified an alarming number of “escapes,” which refers to bugs not discovered during internal testing. A pause of one week might not sound like a long time, but it’s a significant event for a company of Apple’s size and scope. "It’s a problem of 10,000 people typing code and completely breaking the operating system," said one of Gurman’s anonymous sources.

Apple reportedly finished work on the M1 version of iOS 18/iPadOS 18 (codename Crystal) and macOS 15 (Glow). M1 refers to the first development milestone of an Apple software platform. The pause in development refers to the M2 versions of the above operating systems.

Apple has already issued several updates for iOS 17 to address bugs that customers encountered. The most recent release, iOS 17.1, fixed issues with screen “burn-in” on the iPhone 15 and keyboard responsiveness, among other things. Owners of new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro users even encountered a strange bug that would put the phones in an update loop when trying to transfer data from an old iPhone.

We hope that Apple’s latest step to boost software quality means that customers will encounter fewer of these bugs in the future.

Today, GeForce Now became the first publicly available cloud gaming service to officially support iOS devices, but there’s a catch - you’ll only be able to play through the Safari browser, rather than a dedicated app. That’s also the solution that Microsoft will be using for iOS support of its xCloud service sometime next year, and Google announced today that it’s planning a similar iOS web app expansion for Stadia in the coming weeks.

It’s currently in beta, but starting today, you can now access GeForce Now from the iPhone and iPad versions of the Safari browser. There is one limitation, though. For now, you’ll have to use one of the service's supported controllers, like the Xbox One controller or the mobile-first Razer Kishi, since "keyboard and mouse-only games aren't available." But Nvidia is otherwise promising full featured game streaming, barring potential beta issues. This includes RTX ray-tracing and Nvidia DLSS super-sampling.

This marks a first for cloud gaming on iOS. The App Store currently bans game streaming services like GeForce Now, xCloud and Stadia from the app store unless they submit every game on their platforms for app store review and subject them to Apple’s 30% app store commission. Customers would also have to download each game individually, even if they’re played off the cloud. Of course, not every company’s willing to jump through those hoops. 

“This remains a bad experience for customers,” Microsoft told The Verge earlier this September. “Gamers want to jump directly into a game from their curated catalog within one app just like they do with movies or songs, and not be forced to download over 100 apps to play individual games from the cloud.”

Nvidia’s solution isn’t exactly novel, but it is among the first to offer it to users. Amazon launched Luna, which is currently in early trials, with a web app as well. Earlier this October, Business Insider also reported that Microsoft told employees to expect xCloud to wind up on iOS via browser within 2021, and Google announced today that it’s also planning to bring Stadia to iOS as a web app in the “coming weeks.”

The elephant in the room here is Fortnite, which Apple pulled from iOS earlier this August after Epic introduced an in-app payment system that bypassed the typical App Store commission. Epic is now in a legal battle with Apple over the App Store that might change how games and services like GeForce Now release on iOS even further down the line, but for now, Nvidia’s workaround means the popular shooter will be coming back to iOS soon. And, unlike the rest of GeForce Now’s iOS-compatible catalog, you’ll be able to play it without a controller.

“Alongside the amazing team at Epic Games, we’re working to enable a touch-friendly version of Fortnite,” Nvidia said in its GeForce Now on Safari announcement post. “Members can look for the game on iOS Safari soon."

GeForce Now on Safari actually isn’t the first time Nvidia’s brought it’s cloud gaming solution to browsers, either. The service is also currently available on Chrome, though only if you’re using a Chromebook.

None of this is ideal, nor is hardware really the issue here so much as App Store rules. But with Nvidia saying that 10% of its user base currently plays on Chromebook, maybe it’s a sign that we can expect services like this to expand to even more devices and distribution methods in the near future. 

Today we change gears a bit, from featuring best gaming keyboards, to talk about a different type of keyboard – the fun-learning musical kind. Combining its love for music and technology, Roli created Lumi Keys, a wireless RGB MIDI keyboard controller designed to work together with the Lumi app to make music learning easier and more interactive for everyone, using the learn-as-you-play approach. 

Setup

Getting setup with Lumi is very simple. Download the Lumi mobile app to your iOS or Android device (compatible devices are listed below), then pair it via Bluetooth with the Lumi keyboard. Once you’re connected, you’ll get access to the Lumi library, where you can either dive right into learning to play a song or study the basics first by watching the video tutorials. 

Lumi Keys and Lumi App Specs 

Hardware: Lumi Keys 

The Lumi keyboard comes with 24 keys, featuring the Roli BrightKey technology which has "full spectrum" illumination and design inspired by Fresnel lenses (used particularly in lighthouses). This is what provides the Lumi keyboard with its bright, attractive colors that look great in dark environments but also stand out in well-lit settings. Its keys feel precise, even though they are fairly small, measuring just 19.4mm wide, which is a touch narrower than the typical 23.5mm. The high (black) key measures 9.67mm, rather than the standard 13.7 mm.

The plunge distance is 10mm, which is 92% of what you'd find on a grand piano. If you are a beginner, this may not be a concern, but experienced musicians will notice the difference and may need to get acclimated.

The Lumi Keys have a modular design, using DNA connectors (proprietary Roli magnetic connectors), so you can connect to another Lumi keyboard or to Roli's Blocks, a studio-ready mini keyboard with a variety of configurations including a drum pad. As of this writing, the software app for Lumi only supports two joined keyboards, but theoretically, more Lumi keyboards could be attached together for playing more than 48 keys at once.

Weighing 1.3 pounds and measuring at 11 x 5.5 x 1 inches, the Lumi Keys is really portable and convenient to carry around compared to other more traditional MIDI keyboards which can measure anywhere from 20 to over 50 inches in length. Portability is key to musicians on the go, and you can easily fit more than one Lumi keyboard into a regular backpack.

As a true MIDI keyboard, Lumi Keys will work with other MIDI-compatible software. Just plug it into your desktop and use it with any DAW (digital audio workstation) such as GarageBand, Kontakt, Cubase or Omnisphere.

Software: Lumi App 

The Lumi mobile app allows multiple methods of keyboard fun, including free play, jamming or learning songs. The RGB keyboard sets the stage for learning songs using the app, with color-coded notes and a Guitar Hero-like experience. As the song plays, notes scroll down on the screen with colored keys appearing for you to play on your keyboard. The more used to the learning activity you get, the easier it becomes to play without looking at the RGB keyboard. 

Challenge mode is available where, much like Guitar Hero games, it tracks your accuracy and rates your performance at the end of the song.

You can connect to the Lumi mobile app via Bluetooth and USB-C which includes MIDI out and power for charging the rechargeable lithium battery).

Content: Lumi Library 

At the heart of the Lumi app is the Lumi library, where all the content (songs and lessons) are stored and organized. It comes in two packages – Essential and Premium/Complete. The Lumi Essential is the free access service that comes with the initial package and starts you off with 60+ lessons and 40 classic songs. Once you've mastered the songs and lessons there, you can move up to Lumi Premium/Complete, which does require a subscription, but provides access to a constantly-updated library of 400+ contemporary and classical songs and over 130 interactive lessons. 

Upgrades 

Once you've settled in and gotten some knowledge under your belt, Lumi can connect you to Roli software packages like Studio Player, the Noise app and Roli Dashboard.  These are real pro tools and while Lumi can readily use the entry-level Blocks, there's no reason to not jump right into making music like the pros. Studio Player opens up a massive library of sounds and has composition tools like Smart Chords (for chord composition) and Multi-Layered Arpeggiator (for rhythmic patterns). You can add Roli Noise to your mobile iOS device for sketching out musical ideas on the fly. With Roli Dashboard, your LUMI can work with Roli’s popular Seaboard Rise and other popular DAWs.

Bottom Line

Since the advent of MIDI, making music has become more accessible to aspiring musicians. The new Lumi keyboard and app offer something everyone from beginners to professionals can appreciate.

For those who want to go Pro, Lumi provides the perfect first-step toward using Roli Blocks and instant connectivity to software packages like Roli Studio Player and the mobile Studio Noise. This is definitely a great toolset for any beginner who is wants to make the leap into serious music playing and production.

Depending on your budget, the $299 price tag may seem a tad expensive compared to other MIDI keyboards on the market. But combined with its beginner-friendly game-style learning and easy upgrade potential to pro-level tools, the Lumi is an impressive and powerful music platform for new learners and hobby musicians.

Lumi aims to inspire and cultivate a love of music by making it easy to learn, play, and make music in a fun environment. This keyboard delivers on that promise.

Services like Project xCloud on Xbox GamePass or Nvidia's GeForce could, in theory, let you get PC or console-grade gaming experiences anywhere including your iPhone, but Apple isn't making that easy citing its App Store policies, and Microsoft is finally speaking out.

Microsoft made the following statement to Gizmodo about its relationship with Apple when it comes to Project xCloud:

        “Our testing period for the Project xCloud preview app for iOS has expired. Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store. Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content. All games available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog are rated for content by independent industry ratings bodies such as the ESRB and regional equivalents. We are committed to finding a path to bring cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to the iOS platform. We believe that the customer should be at the heart of the gaming experience and gamers tell us they want to play, connect and share anywhere, no matter where they are. We agree."

Long story short, it appears to be down to Apple's terms of service, as the Cupertino-based company claims that cloud gaming services are in violation of its policies -- interactive apps are an issue, it seems, as well as in-app purchases. Apple's statement to Business Insider stated that “Before they go on our store, all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers."

"Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers, and gaming services can absolutely launch on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers, including submitting games individually for review, and appearing in charts and search,” the statement continued. “In addition to the App Store, developers can choose to reach all iPhone and iPad users over the web through Safari and other browsers on the App Store.”

Gizmodo also pointed out that Apple is currently under scrutiny by antitrust regulators. Although Apple doesn't currently have its own game streaming service, if it ever wanted to launch one (which it has considered in the past), it would be convenient not to have any competing platforms. It does have the subscription service Apple Arcade for mobile games.

Google is witnessing similar issues bringing its Stadia platform to iOS.

This isn't the first time that users of Apple products are running into these issues. Two years ago, Apple also made clear that Steam Link wasn't coming to iOS devices despite Valve's plans, citing, you guessed it, policy violations. One year later though, Valve successfully managed to get the service onto the App Store.

If you own a smartphone, you’ll soon be able to volunteer for a contact tracing system that could inform you if you’ve been near someone who’s tested positive for coronavirus, Apple and Google announced .

Contact tracing is a medical term for keeping track of someone with a communicable illness' recent physical contacts, to alert those people if they might be at higher risk of either becoming infected or infecting others, as well as to provide early care for any symptoms they might develop. For instance, the WHO’s definition of contact tracing cites Ebola as an example, with the idea being that once a patient is confirmed to have Ebola, healthcare workers interview that patient about their recent activities and form a list of people who may have come into contact with them, so that they can prepare or quarantine those who might have contracted the disease in the time the patient was contagious before seeking care.

With the whole globe now in the grips of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, governments are now looking to technology giants to help scale up this crucial task. In particular, Android’s Google and iOS’ Apple are stepping up to the plate with a new solution. With smartphones almost being as commonplace to carry as wallets, the companies feel that the data their products give off makes them ideal candidates for mass contact tracing.

“In this spirit of collaboration, Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus,” identical posts on both the Google blog and the Apple Newsroom stated today.

The idea of using cell phone data to track the spread of a disease isn’t exactly new. In fact, a cell phone heat map tracking location data from phones that had congregated on a single Florida beach during spring break this year gained mass popularity on Twitter late this March for showing just how far potentially infected spring breakers could have spread the disease.

However, what Apple and Google are proposing is different from using location data to track large trends. Instead, the two companies want to bake individual, automatic contact tracing into each of their operating systems, effectively allowing anyone with a smartphone to keep track of when they might have encountered a sick person.

For privacy’s sake, rather than location data, the idea is to use an opt-in bluetooth system that “doesn’t collect personally identifiable information” to let phones track which other phones they’ve come across during the day, and then use that information to help users and public health authorities limit coronavirus spread. Think of it like Nintendo’s 3DS Streetpass functionality, but for public health.

 To explain how it works, Google has drawn up a diagram of an example interaction between two fictional users- Bob and Alice. At the start of the interaction, Bob has a 10 minute conversation with Alice on a park bench. Here, their phones exchange what Apple calls “rolling proximity identifiers,” which update every 15 minutes to prevent wireless tracking of the device and are derived from a “daily tracing key” that changes once every 24 hours. A few days later, Bob tests positive for coronavirus and enters the test result into an app from a public health authority. He gives his phone permission to upload his last 14 days of keys to the cloud, at which point Alice’s phone recognizes that she’s come into contact with one of those keys and sends her a notification that she’s been exposed to a person who has tested positive for coronavirus.

At no point in the interaction do Bob and Alice’s keys identify the two to each other or anyone else, and Google promises that the “list of people you’ve been in contact with never leaves your phone.” Additionally, both passive tracking and the upload of keys from a person who has tested positive are opt-in only.

However, the system will be limited to apps at first, which could limit adoption. It’s set to begin rollout in May, when both Apple and Google will release APIs that allow Android and iOS to communicate with each other using “apps from public health authorities,” which will be available on both platforms and will function across operating systems, meaning that a Pixel user and an iPhone user will still be able to track if they’ve come into contact with each other. 

In the future, the two companies say that they are planning to build this functionality into Android and iOS themselves, to allow more people to participate and to allow a phone’s whole app ecosystem to use its contact tracing data.

Each company promises that “user privacy and security” are “central to the design,” with the hope being that anonymous keys, opt-in procedures, limiting who has access to collected data and using bluetooth instead of location data will encourage smartphone users to participate. Additionally, each company’s central servers will only maintain a database of shared keys, with local phones being where matches are tracked. Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union warned against using phone data to track users during an epidemic, but largely focused on location data, which this solution seeks to avoid.

Unfortunately, this privacy-motivated switch to bluetooth does come with its own unique limitations. If keys only last for 15 minutes at a time, phones might have difficulty differentiating between individuals who spend extended periods of time together and those who simply pass each other on the street. Additionally, Bluetooth can’t detect walls, which might cause individuals in adjacent rooms who were never exposed to each other to worry unnecessarily if one of them tests positive. There’s also the larger question of how failure to update either contact tracing apps or eventually operating systems could impact the system, especially in areas with low connectivity. Further, tests are limited right now, which could limit the app's usefulness to certain communities.

Still, as a supplement to more traditional contact tracing interviews, the information offered here is, at the very least, more useful than knowing if you’ve met Lonk from Pennsylvania.

The New York Times reported that FBI General Counsel Dana Boente sent a letter to Apple asking the company to unlock the two encrypted iPhones of Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani of the Saudi Royal Air Force, who authorities believe  shot three sailors at Naval Air Station Pensacola in December 2019. 

This confrontation could turn into a new test case in which either Apple will have to unlock the devices or the FBI will have to retreat once again, as it did in two previous cases. In the San Bernardino case, the agency was forced to admit that it had other ways to unlock the devices, and the judge sided with Apple in a New York case.

The FBI has confirmed the existence of the new letter to Apple. The agency had checked internally and with other intelligence agencies to see if there was a way to unlock the device without Apple’s help, but the response came back negative, according to someone familiar with the investigation.

Apple’s previous argument against the FBI’s criticism was that it can give the FBI “all the data in its possession” (meaning any messages and files that were backed up to iCloud, or related services metadata, as those don’t use end-to-end encryption), but only the owner of the device can decrypt the local phone’s data. As Alshamrani is now dead, that most likely means that nobody will be able to unlock the data. 

The FBI now claims it doesn’t want an encryption backdoor (at least for now), but instead simply wants Apple to open the devices for the agency, according to the NYT report. However, Apple has also said the only way to unlock a device’s data is to put all iOS devices at risk by creating a compromised version of its operating system. 

The company recently renewed its pitch to protect user privacy to the best of its ability. The company has been working on end-to-end encrypted cloud backups for a couple of years now, too, but so far it has kept that technology unused. It’s not clear if that’s so it doesn’t draw more criticism from the U.S. or other governments. 

Attorney General William P. Barr recently attacked Facebook’s efforts to switch Facebook and Instagram chat services to WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, so Apple may want to avoid similar attacks for now. So far, Facebook has ignored the government's threats, and is said to be moving ahead with its encryption plans.

Facebook could be watching you even more closely than you know. Numerous people have found an issue with Facebook's app on iOS that shows it using their iPhone's camera without permission.

Updated, 11/12/19, 11:45am PT: Facebook responded to our request for comment with the following statement: "We recently discovered that version 244 of the Facebook iOS app would incorrectly launch in landscape mode. In fixing that issue last week in v246 (launched on November 8th) we inadvertently introduced a bug that caused the app to partially navigate to the camera screen adjacent to News Feed when users tapped on photos. We have seen no evidence of photos or videos being uploaded due to this bug. We’re submitting the fix for this to Apple today."

Guy Rosen, the company's vice president of integrity, offered a similar statement on Twitter. It's not clear when the updated Facebook app will reach iOS users; that depends on how quickly it makes it through Apple's process for approving updates via the App Store.

The problem was discovered by 95Visual founder Joshua Maddux, who shared a video of the issue on Twitter on November 10. He later said that he was able to confirm the problem affected five different iPhones, and this morning The Next Web reported that it too had encountered the problem.

The issue only appears to affect iPhones running iOS 13.2.2--earlier versions of iOS don't seem to have the same problem. Nor does the Facebook app on Android. 

It's understandable that some users would have a hard time giving Facebook the benefit of the doubt. There's only so many times privacy-eroding features can be labeled bugs or mistakes before it starts to seem like the company doesn't even make an effort to protect its users. 

We've reached out to Facebook for comment on these reports and will update this post if the company responds. In the meantime, it might be prudent to consider removing the app from your iPhone, or at least preventing the Facebook app for iOS from accessing the device's camera by going into the Settings app for iOS.

Microsoft announced Monday that it's combining Word, Excel and PowerPoint into a single Office app on mobile devices. The products will remain separate on desktops--even Microsoft wouldn't dare confuse Windows users by consolidating its Office suite into a single app--but will be lumped together on Android and iOS.

"The new Office mobile app represents our vision for what a productivity solution would look like if first built for mobile devices," Microsoft said in the blog post announcing this change in approach. "In designing this new experience, we first considered how people’s expectations differ when using a phone versus a computer, so we set out to optimize for simplicity, efficiency and common mobile needs."

Bringing the Office suite together into a single Office app helped achieve most of those goals. The apps had their own mobile optimizations already: Word and Excel could both create editable documents from pictures, for example, and PowerPoint could use pictures taken directly from the phone's camera roll. This isn't the first time Microsoft's tried to make the Office suite a bit easier to use on smartphones.

But the new Office app will feature other changes too. Microsoft introduced a new Actions pane that's supposed to make it easier to create PDFs, scan QR codes and more. The company also tried to provide easier access to Sticky Notes, and the integrated Office Lens features enable users to "create automatically enhanced digital images of whiteboards and documents."

The new Office app is currently available as a public preview on Android. The iOS version reached the 10,000 user limit Apple imposes on pre-release software distributed via its TestFlight platform the same day it was announced. 

Microsoft said the new app will initially be exclusive to smartphones, but it plans to bring it to tablets some time in the future (it didn't provide a date). 

Users of the Word, Excel and PowerPoint mobile apps needn't fret about their apps going away yet. Microsoft said it will "continue to support and invest in the existing Word, Excel and PowerPoint mobile apps" because it believes "everyone should decide which experience works best for them on their phones." 

But we'll see how long the redundant apps will remain available once people get used to the idea of a single Office app.

The Starbucks mobile app is reportedly the most used mobile payment app in the United States, but now there's talk that the iOS version stores usernames, email addresses and passwords in clear text. This could be serious bad news for those who lose their phones and typically use the same password across all apps and services.

The news arrives by way of Daniel Wood, a Minneapolis-area computer security expert. Wood's discovery, first reported by Computerworld on Wednesday, reveals that no jailbreaking is needed. Even more, the clear text also displays "an extensive list" of geolocation tracking points. This could be dangerous information if fallen into the wrong hands.

The report stresses that Starbucks could have chosen not to store the information on the phone, but then that would require the customer to enter the name and password at each transaction. Instead, Starbucks chose convenience over security. Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan said that Starbucks should have at least informed customers of the possible vulnerability.

Surprisingly, two Starbucks executives already knew of the problem before the security report made waves earlier this week. "We were aware," admitted Starbucks Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman. "That was not something that was news to us."

In order to get the information, a thief would need to swipe the phone from the victim and get past the password or PIN blocking full access. That move, it seems, is rather simple for a crook.

"You don't need a user's PIN in order to pull raw data off the phone using the tool and methods I have used," Wood told Computerworld. "So if a user's phone is stolen, regardless of being PIN-protected, you are able to bypass that and access the apps Library/Cache and pull the session.clslog file."

On a small scale, a thief could take that information and simply keep charging against the Starbucks account. When the money runs low, the account will access the user's bank account to replenish the funds. This will automatically trigger a message to the victim, likely in the form of an email, and alert the victim of fraud who in turn could notify Starbucks.

Still, if the file holds personal information in clear text, thieves can do more than just charge up a Starbucks account. Yet according to Computerworld, the Starbucks execs are downplaying the potential problem. They claim the company made specific changes that alleviate the problem. According to Brotman, usernames and passwords are safe thanks to extra layers of security.

Still, is/was Starbucks negligent by keeping user information in clear, accessible text?

News of Starbucks' app arrives as Target investigates a breach in its point-of-sale system that spilled the private information of 70 million customers. Now the company is facing a possible class action lawsuit that claims Target knew about the vulnerability since 2007. Neiman Marcus is also investigating a similar breach as well as three other unnamed retailers.

Yesterday, reports surfaced that iOS 7 may be delayed due to an extensive redesign from Jony Ive. However, today brings word that iOS 7 will ship on time.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that unnamed sources close to the iOS development team said that iOS 7 may be delayed due to the complete overhaul of the interface and core apps. These sources claimed that internal deadlines for submitting features to be tested have been set later than past releases. Thus, Apple is pushing to compile enough of the system to preview at WWDC in June, and then will possibly release the platform in September already installed on the new models of iOS devices. However, AllThingsD cites its own unnamed sources that say Apple is 'mustering additional engineering resources' to get iOS 7 finished in time for a preview at its WWDC.

These sources compared the scenario to Apple pulling OS X 10.5 engineers to work on the original iPhone and said engineers from OS X 10.9 have been borrowed from the OS X division and are working on iOS 7. These sources added: "It will ship on time."

Of course, 'on time' doesn't mean much when we don't have a release date for iOS 7 to begin with. Looking back on iOS 6, that was previewed in June and launched in September. Similarly, iOS 5 was previewed at WWDC in June and not released until October. Both times, the new version of iOS was released alongside the new iteration of iPhone. There has been talk of Apple returning to its old summer-update cycle for the iPhone. If that's the case, and the iPhone 5S/6 is announced in June and released in July, then we can expect to see iOS 7 released this summer as well. However, if there's no iPhone, then iOS 7 will likely not be released until we see some new hardware.

Given the talk of Apple pulling engineers from OS X to work on iOS, we think it's pretty likely the release date is set for summertime. And, when you consider the fact that iOS 6 was only released last September, it's not surprising that the iOS team is pushed for time -- it's only been eight months since iOS 6 went out the door. 

Back in mid-February it emerged that a hole in iOS 6.1 allowed folks to bypass the iPhone lockscreen and make calls without ever having to enter the passcode set by the device's owner. At the time, Apple said it was aware of the problem and that it was working on a fix that would arrive in a future software update.

If you're rocking iOS 6.1, you'll be pleased to know that fix has arrived. iOS 6.1.3 fixes a number of bugs, including the hole that allowed users to access certain parts of your phone without having to input the lockscreen code. The trick involved making an emergency call, canceling it, attempting to turn the phone off, and pressing the power button. Though this trick wouldn't give complete access to the phone, it did give access to the phone app, which allowed the person attempting to access your phone to make calls, edit contacts, view photos (by trying to add a photo to a contact's number), and check voicemail.

For full details on the bugs fixed by iOS 6.1.3, check out this security note.

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UK cell phone provider Vodafone has warned customers using iPhones to not upgrade to iOS 6.1 due to apparent issues with 3G functionality. MacRumors reports that Vodafone sent SMS messages to all iPhone users on its network asking them to hold off on updating to iOS 6.1 for the time being.

"If you've not already downloaded iOS 6.1 for your iPhone 4s, please hold off for the next version while Apple fixes 3G performance issues. Thanks," the message read.

Vodafone further explained its request via the support forums on its website. The carrier said it's aware of an issue with Apple iPhone 4S handsets that have been upgraded to iOS 6.1. The issue affected 3G performance and some users are experiencing difficulty connecting to the network or receiving calls and texts.

According to Vodafone, Apple is working on a fix. In the mean time, the carrier wants anyone who hasn't yet upgraded to delay doing so until Apple can confirm the issue has been resolved.

No word of advice for those that have upgraded and are experiencing issues, but we'll keep you posted on any developments.

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Apple has announced that iOS 6 is now installed on 300 million devices. The milestone has been achieved five months after iOS 6's release, which coincided with the launch of the iPhone 5. Apple's marketing head Phil Schiller said that iOS 6 "may be the most popular new version of an OS in history."

Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook recently revealed that 500 million iOS devices have been sold thus far. Consequently, 300 million devices running iOS 6 would translate into 60 percent of the overall installed base.

Back in the October of 2012, over 100 million iOS users adopted Apple's latest mobile OS, with iOS 6 installed on 60 percent of North American iPhone users.

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60 percent of iPhones in the U.S. and Canada have already installed Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, according to a report conducted by advertising and analytics firm Chitika.

Updated metrics based on advert impressions from when iOS 6 launched last month found that 60 percent of iPhone users are already on iOS 6, while the figure is 45 percent for iPad users, and 39 percent for iPod owners.

"Overall, this data points to Apple doing an outstanding job of keeping their user base up-to-date with the latest OS," Chitika said. "By comparison, Google's latest data shows only 22 percent of its users being on its two most recent versions of Android."

24 hours after iOS 6 launched, Chitika said a total of 15 percent of iOS users installed the latest operating system. The figure was followed by official numbers provided by Apple when the firm announced that, along with iPhone 5's opening weekend sales, over 100 million iDevice users had adopted to iOS 6.

iOS 6, which was released on September 19, adds over 200 new features, according to Apple. Particularly, it replaces Google Maps with Apple's own maps app, which has been so heavily scrutinized that Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology pertaining to the app's flaws.

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Though Apple began as a computer company, it's common knowledge that Cupertino's other products, such as the iPad, iPod and iPhone, are massive money-makers. The company's latest earnings report revealed that Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads in the fourth quarter of last year. By comparison, the number of Macs shipped in the same quarter was just 5.2 million. Not a small number by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely not at the level of the iPhone and iPad. In fact, the iPad and iPhone are so wildly successful that all the Macs sold in nearly three decades still can't match up to iOS device sales in terms of units.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently revealed 55 million iPads to date, adding that it took five years to achieve that number with the iPod, and 22 years for the Mac (as noted by Fortune here). This got the folks over at Asymco thinking about unit sales across Apple's product portfolio and how long each device had been on sale. Horace Dediu writes that the iOS platform overtook OS X in less than four years and that last year alone, the number of iOS devices sold amounted to more than the number of Macs sold, well, ever.

Of course, it's impossible to deny the success of the iPad or the iPhone (or even the iPod touch) considering the number of units sold, but it's also hard to ignore the fact that these are all significantly cheaper than the price of the cheapest Apple computer. Throw in the fact that smartphones are on a 12-month refresh cycle (as is the iPad) whereas people tend to hold on to their computers for much longer than that, and these crazy numbers start to make a little bit more sense. Just a little!

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