Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for January 24, 2016

Apple users should update their iOS right now

Apple patched a security flaw in its latest update

Apple's iOS 9.2.1 update applies to iPhone 4s and later models, the fifth generation iPod Touch and later, and the iPad 2 and later.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-apple-users-should-update-their-ios-right-now-2016-01-20



The 10 best iPhone apps you should use in 2016

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-10-best-iphone-apps-you-should-use-2016-1



25 hidden iPhone features that are really, truly hidden

Even the savviest iPhone users will learn a few things from this article.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/01/22/25-hidden-iphone-features-that-are-really-truly-hidden.html



Apple's Advantage Over Android Embarrasses Google

Two issues here:

First, iOS allows you to control - much better than Android OS - which apps are allowed to transmit your personal data to corporations.

Second, from a security point of view, from patching bugs and exploits, to giving users new features and useful extras, Android falls far behind Apple in its ability to keep users safe.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2016/01/15/apple-versus-android-os-update-security/#5542247d5e88



Slide Show:
16 Apple Security Advances to Take Note of in 2016

A very good slide show.

http://techcrunch.com/gallery/16-apple-security-advances-to-take-note-of-in-2016/



Apple iOS 9.2.1 Has A Nasty Surprise

iOS 9.2.1 doesn’t actually address the software’s most high profile problem: frozen battery charge levels.

the battery bug (which freezes the reported battery level regardless of further drain or charge) is still there.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2016/01/20/apple-ios-9-2-1-problem/#513fdf625318



Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 just to stay as the default search engine on the iPhone

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-google-advertising-revenue-split-2016-1



A top Apple analyst agrees iPhone sales will fall, but says that's a huge buying opportunity

sales of the iPhone will experience their first ever year-on-year decline when the company reports its quarterly earnings report next week. 

But Gene Munster says the poor demand for the current iPhone 6S and the negative Wall Street reaction is setting up Apple's stock for a big pop by September, when the new iPhone 7 is expected to roll out.

http://www.businessinsider.com/piper-jaffray-forecasts-apple-stock-rebound-ahead-of-new-iphone-2016-1



The Women Behind NIX Hydra are Taking on Aggressive Male Video Gaming

Four years ago, Lina Chen and Naomi Ladizinsky's plan to shake up the gaming world on behalf of girls seemed exceedingly improbable, even to them.

Early this year, their Los Angeles company, Nix Hydra, a rare gaming firm founded by women to create games for girls and women, will launch Egg!, a more complex successor to their wildly popular 2013 mobile pet game, Egg Baby.

The long-haired, soft-spoken co-founders of Nix Hydra are now in an enviable position, with just over $5.6 million from investors…

Chen and Ladizinsky now employ 34 people, 60 percent of them women

http://www.laweekly.com/news/the-women-behind-nix-hydra-are-taking-on-aggressive-male-video-gaming-6462830



The US military has enlisted academics to fight a new enemy: Twitter bots.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) held a special contest last year to identify so-called "influence bots"  — "realistic, automated identities that illicitly shape discussion on sites like Twitter and Facebook.”

With 8.5% of all Twitter users being bots, per Twitter's own metrics, it's important to weed out those bots who go beyond just trying to sell you weight-loss plans and work-at-home methods, and cross the line into politics.

DARPA says you can expect a lot more evil propaganda bots on Twitter in the years to come.

http://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-twitter-bot-challenge-2016-1



Video:
Are Routers the New Frontier for Hackers?

http://www.marketwatch.com/video/are-routers-the-new-frontier-for-hackers/DC51F296-824F-426E-BE82-B145B2674EFD.html



Video:
Neil deGrasse Tyson has a message for moon landing conspiracy theorists

Some people will never believe that men went to the moon, regardless of what evidence is presented.  About this, Neil said:
“…how remarkable it is that there are some humans among us who are so struck by our advances in science and technology that they’re in denial that it’s real. What a compliment that is to our moving technological frontier."

http://www.techinsider.io/neil-degrasse-tyson-moon-landing-conspiracy-theories-2016-1