Apple has today released a minor update for iOS 6 that is apparently restricted only for the iPhone 5. The company issued an update labelled as iOS 6.1.4 that apparently contains one new feature in the form of an updated audio profile for the speakerphone on the iPhone 5. There is no further detail of what exactly has been fixed or altered in the update, but improvements to the speakerphone, for example during a call, are not immediately apparent.
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Apple is obviously expecting a significant number of bug reports for locations in the Maps application for iOS devices, as the company has just posted a job opening for a Maps Bug Triage Engineer. The company is looking for engineers who can triage and prioritize internal problem reports and problems such as a business location being in the wrong place or issues converting addresses to latitude and longitude. The person will work with the entire Maps team on improving the app and nursing it closer to perfection.
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The encryption technology that Apple uses for its iMessage messaging system is highly secure, according to a leaked memo from US law enforcement agencies noting that it is very difficult to intercept messages sent using the service. The memo came into the possession of CNET who have noted that, even when mandated by a court order for message tapping, it is likely impossible to intercept iMessages sent between two or more Apple devices.
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Apple is looking to add some additional features to both iMessage and FaceTime applications on iOS devices. The company has today posted a job opening for an iOS Communications Application Engineer who will help to make significant improvements to the FaceTime and iMessage applications on iPhone. The advertisement asks for someone who will ‘take the revolutionary iPhone to the next level’ and ‘will be responsible for implementing new features to our existing FaceTime and iMessage applications’.
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Apple has today released the next update to the iOS operating system for their mobile devices in the form of iOS 6.1.3. The update contains a number of minor bug fixes and enhancements including significant improvements to Maps in Japan and a fix for the bug that allowed a malicious user to bypass the passcode and access the Phone application.
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Mozilla, the company behind the highly popular Firefox browser for OS X and Windows devices, will not be bringing the Firefox browser to iOS devices until Apple makes a major change in policy. Speaking at the SXSW conference in Austin, TX, Mozilla Vice President of Products Jay Sullivan, noted that Firefox would not appear on iOS devices until Apple allows third party browsers to use their own JavaScript rendering engine Nitro (via CNET). Currently, any third-party browsers for iOS use the UIWebView component, which is moderately slower than Nitro, thus translating to Safari being faster than any third party browser could ever be.
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Apple has just posted a large number of new job openings looking for iOS Software Engineers to specifically focus upon improving the Maps application for iOS devices. The recruiting drive, coming hot on the heels of Google’s first major update to their Maps application for iOS devices, calls for ten more positions that will specifically focus on improving various aspects of the Maps app. The company is looking for engineers to work not just on improving the user interface or UI of the Maps app, but also to work on the navigation services in Apple Maps, by ‘implementing new and innovative navigation features’.
The company is also looking for several engineers to work on real time rendering of maps, road labeling and points of interest, rendering of 3D flyovers and improving performance. The new recruitment drive follows on from a similar one early last month which saw another ten positions advertised, all dedicated to improving similar aspects of the Apple Maps app.
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Google has today issued the first major update to its new Maps application for iOS devices as Google Maps version 1.1 went live in the iOS App Store today. The update brings a number of new features to the Google Maps app including the ability to search Contacts that you have stored with Google services and display their address on the mapping app. The app now also allows you to search for local businesses by category, including new categories like restaurants, cafes, bars and gas stations. In addition, users can now flip between kilometers or miles for their units of distance.
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Following on from rumors suggesting that Apple was working on a brand new iWatch-like device, a new report is saying that it is unlikely that a device incorporating flexible glass will launch within the next three years. The report comes from Bloomberg who have information from Corning, the manufacturer of the new flexible ‘Willow Glass’ that was touted to appear in a new flexible Apple device that would be worn on the wrist. According to Corning, it is unlikely that companies will be able to start producing devices with flexible displays within the next three years.
Corning are apparently putting a significant amount of effort into teaching companies how to work with the new glass, as they are ‘not accustomed to glass you roll up’, according to James Clappin, president of Corning Glass.
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The latest version of iOS software, which is currently in testing, apparently patches the exploits that are used by the Evasi0n jailbreak, meaning that the new software will prevent the jailbreak being used (via Forbes). The new beta 2 version of iOS 6.1.3, which was released for developer testing by Apple last week, apparently patches one of the five bugs that the Evasi0n jailbreak uses in order to allow access to the root file system of iOS devices, according to evad3rs team member @planetbeing aka David Wang.
While there are a number of other vulnerabilities that can be used by jailbreak software in order to jailbreak an iOS device, evad3rs are looking to see whether the latest version of iOS 6 patches any of the other holes. If it does, then it is likely that evasi0n would no longer be effective should users update to the latest iOS release, when iOS 6.1.3 is offered to the public.
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