Apple Tops Movie Product Placement Rankings for the First Time Since 2011 Posted: 04 Mar 2015 07:04 AM PST Branding website Brandchannel recently revealed the winners of the Brandcameo 2015 Product Placement Awards, which names the movies and brands with the most proliferation within Hollywood films over the past year. For the first time since 2011, Apple nabbed the 2014 Award for Overall Product Placement, appearing in 9 of the 35 films that topped the U.S. box office last year. Brandchannel mentions the most influential Apple moments in films last year, perhaps the most popular of which is an extended scene in Marvel's blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which two of its protagonists use a MacBook Pro inside an Apple Store to hack into secretive S.H.I.E.L.D. data.
The website mentions that while Apple's return to product placement dominance in 2014, appearing in just over 25 percent of the top box office films, is a step up from the last few years, the company's brand appearances still remain well below its peak performance years. The brand saw the most proliferation in its "golden age" of 2009, appearing in nearly 50 percent of all number 1 movies that year. It dropped to 42.5 percent in 2011 and to just 15 percent in 2013. The newly Apple-owned brand Beats, unfortunately, won the 2014 Award for Worst Product Placement. The company's popular Bluetooth speaker, the Beats Pill, popped up in a scene in the critically-panned Transformers: Age of Extinction, wherein Stanley Tucci creates a Pill using his mind and the fictional "Transformium" material that pushes much of the film's plot into motion. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Rumor Suggests 12-Inch Retina MacBook Air Could Launch During March 9 Apple Watch Event Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:36 PM PST Apple could be planning to introduce the much-rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air during its March 9 Apple Watch event, according to one site that claims to have sources within Apple. The Michael Report believes Apple will use the event to debut the ultrathin MacBook, which is rumored to have a Retina display and a redesigned chassis.
While there have been no concrete rumors from major sites linking the Retina MacBook Air to Apple's March 9 event, previous rumors have indicated that Apple is planning for a spring release. Apple supplier Quanta is said to have begun mass production of the notebook in January, and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a March launch for the MacBook.
Rendering of the 12-inch Retina MacBook Air created by Martin Hajek When taking these rumors into account, along with the fact that the MacBook Air is due for an update, the introduction of the Retina MacBook Air at Apple's March 9 event does seem like a possibility. It's also possible Apple will introduce new models of the existing 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air at the event -- the last update was in April and there was a rumor suggesting an update in February was imminent. Core M Broadwell chips believed to be appropriate for the 12-inch Retina MacBook have been available since November, and chips appropriate for the standard MacBook Air began shipping in January. Along with a Retina display, the 12-inch MacBook Air is rumored to come without a fan assembly for silent operation, made possible by the aforementioned Core M chips, and it may also include a revamped trackpad that does not incorporate a mechanical button. It is said to feature smaller bezels in a Retina MacBook Pro-style black, a keyboard that stretches right to the edges of the machine, and speakers that are located above the keyboard. The Michael Report has a mixed track record when it comes to rumors. The site accurately predicted some design elements of the iPad Air 2, but its predictions may have been based on dummy models that were circulating around the Internet at the time. The site also shared details on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ahead of their launch, inaccurately calling the iPhone 6 Plus the "iPhone 6L" and suggesting the iPhones would come with quad-core processors and sapphire displays. More details about what Apple plans to unveil at its Monday, March 9 event may come out through the week. Thus far, many sites have agreed that the focal point of the event will be the Apple Watch, with Apple unveiling new details about the device like its price and its official launch date. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Luxury Sports Car Brand Koenigsegg Announces New Regera Hypercar With CarPlay Support Posted: 03 Mar 2015 12:06 PM PST Swedish car manufacturer Koenigsegg is known for its high-priced luxury sports cars, often called hypercars. At the Geneva Motor Show today, Koenigsegg showed off its latest car -- an ~1,800 horsepower hybrid vehicle with built-in support for Apple's CarPlay service. Called the Regera, which translates to "to reign" in Swedish, the car can go from 0 to 250 miles per hour within 20 seconds, and it tops out at a speed of 255 miles per hour. It's equipped with a 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine along with three electric motors. One motor replaces the standard transmission with the Koenigsegg Direct Drive system, and there's a motor dedicated to each rear wheel.
A long list of automobile manufacturers have signed up to partner with Apple and introduce CarPlay in upcoming vehicles, but thus far, Ferrari is the only brand that has produced a car that's available with CarPlay -- the $300,000 Ferrari FF. Audi, Volkswagen, and Hyundai have all promised that CarPlay-compatible cars will be available in 2015, and there are a number of aftermarket CarPlay solutions from Alpine and Pioneer that are currently available for purchase. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Researchers Find New 'FREAK' Security Flaw, Apple Says Fix Coming Soon Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:04 AM PST These restrictions were lifted more than a decade ago, but the weaker encryption has continued to be used by software companies as a result of the old policy and it has even been built into software in the U.S. The existence of lingering "export-grade" encryption was unnoticed until this year, when researchers found they could force browsers to use lower-grade 512-bit encryption and then crack it. Hackers could potentially employ the same tactic, cracking weak encryption and then stealing passwords and other information. Researchers also believe the vulnerability could be used to launch attacks on and infiltrate major websites. In testing, the export-grade encryption key was breached in seven hours using computers and more than a quarter of encrypted sites were found to be vulnerable.
As pointed out by The Washington Post, the FREAK vulnerability is an example of the problems that can arise when the government gets involved in device security. Government officials have recently expressed concern over the privacy features that Apple and Google have been building into their smartphones in response to outrage over secretive government surveillance programs like PRISM. FBI Director James Comey has made remarks suggesting Apple and Google should scale back encryption, as government access to electronic devices is necessary in some cases. He has said that it may matter a "great, great deal" that the government be able to infiltrate the device of a kidnapper, criminal, or terrorist. The researchers who discovered the flaw have notified government sites and major technology companies to fix the issue before it became widely publicized. FBI.gov and Whitehouse.gov have been fixed, and according to Apple spokeswoman Trudy Miller, Apple is preparing a security patch that will be "in place next week for both its computers and its mobile devices." Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Apple Shifting Security Team From Contractors to Full-Time Employees Posted: 03 Mar 2015 09:37 AM PST Apple has decided to hire the majority of its day-to-day security staff in Silicon valley as full-time employees, a company spokeswoman confirmed to the San Jose Mercury News . Many of the security guards that Apple has hired in the past as contractors will become part of the company's expanded in-house security team and receive the same benefits as other employees, including full health insurance, retirement contributions and a leave of absence for new parents.
Apple security guard in dispute with photographer at iPad event (via The Australian) Apple will continue using contractors as security guards for special events, such as the upcoming "Spring Forward" media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 9th. Apple is believed to have begun constructing an extension on the Yerba Buena Center over the weekend, possibly as an Apple Watch demo area, and security guards wearing "Apple Security" shirts were spotted monitoring the premises.
Apple has faced increasing pressure to provide individuals who cook, clean and monitor security for the company with the same benefits as other employees. Local union United Service Workers West staged a protest on Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California in December over complaints that its security contractor Security Industry Specialists treated workers poorly and that many positions were part-time. Other service workers in Silicon Valley are also fighting for better wages and benefits. The Wall Street Journal reported that a group of 158 bus drivers working for Compass Transportation, which provides shuttle service for Apple, eBay, Genentech, Yahoo and Zynga, voted on Friday to be represented by local union Teamsters Local 853 in negotiations with Compass over fair working conditions. Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Wednesday, 4 March 2015
MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors
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