Free shipping from Apple's online store and more news for May 23, 2014
Friday is typically a "slow news day," but we've got four stories this week. Apple's online store offers free shipping for a time, iAd Producer has gotten an update, Apple agrees to a large settlement in court and hackers claim to have around a pretty nasty iCloud exploit. Onward!
Apple's online store is offering free shipping through May 29. Perhaps they're prepping for the Father's Day shopping season or just looking for a pre-summer boost. If it's the former, here's a note to my family: a Mac Pro will look great on dad's desk.
Apple has released iAd Producer 4.2. The updated software allows for the creation of full-screen banner ads for the iPhone and an option to upload Producer projects to iAd workbench. Minor changes include folder reorganization in the Assets sidebar and iAd Workbench support for existing iAd Producer projects.
Apple, others agree to US$325M settlement in Silicon Valley wage fixing case. The group reached a preliminary agreement about a month ago, and now everyone has agreed upon a settlement of $325 million. Judge Lucy Koh -- a name probably familiar to many of you -- must still approve the settlement.
Hackers claim to have exploit for iCloud, specifically affecting Activation Lock (Google translate). A group going by the name "Team DoulCi" has demonstrated the problem. It seems that iTunes on Windows does not verify security certificates properly, allowing hackers to execute a "man-in-the-middle" attack and intercept a user's Apple ID creds. The vulnerability can also let attackers into iDevices that have been rendered unusable by Activation Lock.