Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Roundup

Android market share hits new records

Smartphones running Android accounted for 85% of global shipments in the second quarter

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/android-market-share-hits-new-record-2014-07-31-8103348




It's Pretty Clear That Apple Is Winning The War With Samsung

many were shrieking that Apple was going to get knocked flat by Samsung and Android, but it's looking increasingly like that's not going to happen.

So, what's eating Samsung? It's fighting - and losing - two battles.

At the high end it's competing with Apple. Apple isn't going anywhere. It remains strong thanks to a sterling brand, high-quality phones, and iOS, the best mobile operating system in the world.

At the low-end of the market it's competing with upstarts like Chinese phone maker Xiaomi and an army of Android phone makers that use Android. There's little reason for a consumer to pay a premium for Samsung phones instead of a Samsung clone. 

This is all instructive when thinking about Apple and what it should do in the future. While there are people pushing Apple to lower prices on the iPhone, it seems like Apple is doing the exact right thing by keeping it's phones priced at a premium. It has expensive, new high-end phones that generate healthy sales and profits. They also establish Apple as a premium phone maker.

Apple was right to ignore the pundits calling for a lower-cost phone last year. And if it ignores them again this year, it will probably be the right call once again.

Bottom line: Apple knows what it's doing.

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-pretty-clear-that-apple-is-winning-the-war-with-samsung-2014-7




Apple decal sellers saw a tremendous spike in sales following 'Stickers' ad
Super neat video.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/31/apple-stickers-ad-sales-jump/




Now's the Time to Buy an Apple MacBook Pro: 10 Reasons Why

The new MacBook Pro 13-inch model is $100 cheaper.

However, the truth is that with the MacBook Pro's new features, now is the time to buy one.

AW comment:  The layout of this web page is confusing.  It indicated "12 of 12" instead of "1 of 10".
Click on the nearby button with the left pointing triangle to start seeing the 10 reasons.

http://www.eweek.com/pc-hardware/slideshows/nows-the-time-to-buy-an-apple-macbook-pro-10-reasons-why.html




Here's Why Working At Apple Is A Dream Job

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-dream-job-2014-7




The Highest-Paying Jobs At Apple [RANKED]

http://www.businessinsider.com/highest-paying-jobs-at-apple-2014-7




Why People Aren't Buying iPads Anymore

Last week, a colleague of mine went to the Verizon store to get a new phone. An hour later, he walked out with a new smartphone and a free Android tablet.

That's how cheap tablets have become: Verizon will give you a free one when you sign a two-year contract with the company.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/apple-ipad-sales_n_5614474.html




Does Apple deliberately slow old iPhones before a new release?

New research shows Google searches for 'iPhone slow' peak when Apple releases a new iPhone model

"Wouldn't many business owners love to make their old product less useful whenever they released a newer one?" Sendhil Mullainathan wrote.

He said that there are other plausible explanations for why an older model iPhone may slow down. The latest version of the Apple operating system, iOS, is always tailored to the newest device and may therefore not work as efficiently on older models.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/technology/59708/does-apple-deliberately-slow-old-iphones-before-a-new-release




10 Cool Games You Can Play On Your Mac

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-cool-mac-games-2014-7




A 24-Year-Old Allegedly Used A Simple But Brilliant Scam To Cheat Apple Out Of $300,000

http://www.businessinsider.com/sharron-laverne-parrish-jr-charged-with-apple-credit-card-scam-2014-7




More On the Apple Spookware

This author's comment on Apple engineers believing that their "back door" in your iPhone or iPad would never be exploited by hackers:

it is the height of arrogance to believe that you're smarter than everyone else.  To include this sort of back door facility in a piece of software under the belief that nobody but the intended persons will use it (no matter who that is, and under what pretense) is ridiculous, it is grossly negligent and it is unacceptable.

Indeed this is exactly the same crap that the NSA did do when it was alleged they weakened certain public-key generation routines on purpose so they could break them.  To believe nobody else would figure that out and exploit it is stupid beyond words.  The NSA is not the smartest bunch of guys on the planet, now and forevermore, and neither is Apple.  Someone is always smarter and always able to figure it out.  As soon as you intentionally put in the means to break security someone else, other than the intended people, will do so and use that capability you put in place to screw you.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229239


The same author has further comments.
Scroll down about half way for the Apple back door comments.

The first half of the article is not relevant:  it concerns aircraft over Ukraine and Russia being shot down.
The author should have made this two articles.  But it is what it is.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229240




Android crypto blunder exposes users to highly privileged malware

The majority of devices running Google's Android operating system are susceptible to hacks that allow malicious apps to bypass a key security sandbox so they can steal user credentials, read e-mail, and access payment histories and other sensitive data, researchers have warned.

The high-impact vulnerability has existed in Android since the release of version 2.1 in early 2010, researchers from Bluebox Security said.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/android-crypto-blunder-exposes-users-to-highly-privileged-malware/




9 New Ways You Can Be Hacked

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/07/25/new-ways-can-be-hacked/




Hackers have figured out how to transform USB devices, such as any keyboard, mouse or web-cam, with malware that runs on those devices instead of running on your computer, and is every bit as bad as malware that does run on your computer.  And anti-virus software CAN'T detect malware in USB devices yet.

It is possible to create defenses against this, but they will require significant operating system patches and then a paradigm to be taken care of with USB -- which will help, but not prevent these sorts of exploits.  As it sits right now, unfortunately, mainstream operating systems are wide open to this sort of abuse.

It is sometimes possible for technically savvy people to notice when USB malware first tries to go to work, but ordinary computer users are totally hosed.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229256

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/this-thumbdrive-hacks-computers-badusb-exploit-makes-devices-turn-evil/




Tor Has Been Breached - What Now?

An attack on Tor, a network designed to cloak users in anonymity, resulted in a breach that caused the project team to scramble for a solution. The Carnegie-Mellon researchers who figured out how to de-anonymize users of the network have been suspected of working hand-in-hand with the NSA, but that's unlikely. If the government had learned how to identify Tor users, why would it announce the fact?

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/80834.html




Securing Billions of IoT Devices Poses Mind-Boggling Challenges

The Internet of Things (IoT) presents some significant security challenges that need to be dealt with now before big problems arise.

http://www.eweek.com/networking/securing-billions-of-iot-devices-poses-mind-boggling-challenges.html




Facebook’s Privacy Pivot
Why Mark Zuckerberg is trying to win back users’ trust.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/07/facebook_s_privacy_pivot_mark_zuckerberg_s_plan_to_win_back_trust.html




I complained online and got $1,200 back
5 ways to be a more effective complainer

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-complained-online-and-got-1200-back-2014-07-31




9 Easy Tips For Finding Exactly What You Want On Google

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-a-google-power-searcher-2014-7




Technologies To Make You 'Superhuman' Are No Longer Science Fiction

It's a small leap from today's wearable technologies to tomorrow's implantable ones, many of which are likely to be used for detecting and preventing disease. Within our lifetimes, bionics are likely to transform not only how we live but who we are.

http://www.businessinsider.com/bionic-technology-human-cyborgs-2014-7




Open Source Replacements for Popular Small Business Software

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/open-source-replacements-for-popular-small-business-software-1.html