O2 quarter boosted by iPhone; PayPal Safari warning; iPhoto 7.1.3
While its Irish division is just receiving the iPhone, O2 UK said on Thursday that the iPhone led its best-ever quarter at the end of 2007. Also, PayPal cautions users to avoid visiting its site with Safari, and Apple has issued an iPhoto fix.
O2 UK's Q4 2007 buoyed by iPhone
Britain's primary cellphone carrier, O2, reported on Thursday that the iPhone was one of the primary drivers of its success in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Though still refusing to confirm or deny reported sales numbers for the specific Apple device, the provider said the 483,000 net customers it picked up during the three-month span was the most ever for the company. About 276,000 of these had signed a contract and included the iPhone customers in their ranks, as the handset requires an 18-month agreement.
O2 also boasted that the device was the "fastest selling device that [it has] ever had" in the country and that the average revenue per user is about 30 percent higher than for a typical contracted subscriber.
About 60 percent of all iPhone users have come from other providers, and the iPhone has had the highest satisfaction levels yet of any O2 device with a record low return rate, the company said.
PayPal issues Safari security warning
Apple's primary web browser is the last one any PayPal customer should use when visiting the payment site, said a new warning from the company's chief info security officer, Michael Barrett.
The technology expert cautioned that, of all the major browsers, only Safari lacks two clear anti-phishing measures. There is no filter to block or warn users of fake websites that may use a PayPal-like website address to scam users, he warned.
Safari also lacks a recent development known as an Extended Validation (EV) certificate. It turns the address bar green when visiting trusted sites that use the certificate, letting them know that the site is authentic.
While only Internet Explorer 7 currently uses EV, all browsers except Safari, including Firefox and Opera, at least support a basic filter and are likely to receive EV soon. The transactions themselves on Safari are said to be secure but may be deceptive if a phishing scam forges a security certificate.
"Safari has got nothing in terms of security support, only SSL [Secure Sockets Layer encryption], that's it," Barrett said.
iPhoto 7.1.3
Lastly, Apple has issued a minor patch for its latest version of iPhoto.
Version 7.1.3 (16.9MB) resolves issues with creating cards as well as wire-bound photo books.
O2 UK's Q4 2007 buoyed by iPhone
Britain's primary cellphone carrier, O2, reported on Thursday that the iPhone was one of the primary drivers of its success in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Though still refusing to confirm or deny reported sales numbers for the specific Apple device, the provider said the 483,000 net customers it picked up during the three-month span was the most ever for the company. About 276,000 of these had signed a contract and included the iPhone customers in their ranks, as the handset requires an 18-month agreement.
O2 also boasted that the device was the "fastest selling device that [it has] ever had" in the country and that the average revenue per user is about 30 percent higher than for a typical contracted subscriber.
About 60 percent of all iPhone users have come from other providers, and the iPhone has had the highest satisfaction levels yet of any O2 device with a record low return rate, the company said.
PayPal issues Safari security warning
Apple's primary web browser is the last one any PayPal customer should use when visiting the payment site, said a new warning from the company's chief info security officer, Michael Barrett.
The technology expert cautioned that, of all the major browsers, only Safari lacks two clear anti-phishing measures. There is no filter to block or warn users of fake websites that may use a PayPal-like website address to scam users, he warned.
Safari also lacks a recent development known as an Extended Validation (EV) certificate. It turns the address bar green when visiting trusted sites that use the certificate, letting them know that the site is authentic.
While only Internet Explorer 7 currently uses EV, all browsers except Safari, including Firefox and Opera, at least support a basic filter and are likely to receive EV soon. The transactions themselves on Safari are said to be secure but may be deceptive if a phishing scam forges a security certificate.
"Safari has got nothing in terms of security support, only SSL [Secure Sockets Layer encryption], that's it," Barrett said.
iPhoto 7.1.3
Lastly, Apple has issued a minor patch for its latest version of iPhoto.
Version 7.1.3 (16.9MB) resolves issues with creating cards as well as wire-bound photo books.
Comments
PayPal issues Safari security warning
Apple's primary web browser is the last one any PayPal customer should use when visiting the payment site, said a new warning from the company's chief info security officer, Michael Barrett.
The technology expert cautioned that, of all the major browsers, only Safari lacks two clear anti-phishing measures. There is no filter to block or warn users of fake websites that may use a PayPal-like website address to scam users, he warned.
Safari also lacks a recent development known as an Extended Validation (EV) certificate. It turns the address bar green when visiting trusted sites that use the certificate, letting them know that the site is authentic.
While only Internet Explorer 7 currently uses EV, all browsers except Safari, including Firefox and Opera, at least support a basic filter and are likely to receive EV soon. The transactions themselves on Safari are said to be secure but may be deceptive if a phishing scam forges a security certificate.
"Safari has got nothing in terms of security support, only SSL [Secure Sockets Layer encryption], that's it," Barrett said.
One word. 1Password. \\m/
If I click on a phishing link in an email, then once the page loads, my username and password are not loaded. If I try typing the first letter of my username and it doesn't load, that's a sure sign something is wrong.
However, I never get that far. Common sense tells me never to click on a link in an email from a financial institution. If I do, then I always check to make sure it's the banks website.
A good way to test, enter any old username and password you want and hit submit. If it accept it...DING, it's a phishing site.
Common sense is all you really need. All Mac users have it. Windows users need all the extra protection.
I thought Safari 3 was supposed to have Phishing anti measures in it? Was this a killed feature?
You are correct.I'm trying to find a valid phoshing website right now to test it.
edit: This feature did not make it into the final release. Apple must have done that up-sell us Time Capsule.
As far as phishing warnings, they are no substitute for user awareness. Thieves will always find a way around automated warnings.
When it comes to sites related to money or identity, know the sites you visit!
More and more i'm coming across sites that are not supported by Safari. One would think that 'internet' accessibility and function would be high priority.
Apple needs to drop all this iPhone/TV crap and focus on their core business. I started looking at windoze box's because Apple has no solid offerings for visual creative professionals. Mac Pro's are a 50/50 gamble that they will be DOA out of the box, and I can't afford the down time of sending machines back 2, 3, 4 times like people are reporting on xlr8 and apple discussion boards.
Where are the new displays? Would be nice to bundle applecare with a new display if one does decide to gamble with a new Mac Pro.
Also of mention, the New Mac Pro's are quite outdated with their hardware offerings already.
Apple seems to be focused on it's appliance business so feverishly, that it's neglected quality control on Leopard, Safari and standard computer line of iMacs and towers.
I mean seriously, it's pretty damn tough to design a marketing campaign on an iPhone.
What the hell gives?
They had better smarten up or their 'Switch' campaign is going to take on a whole new meaning.
If you want to know how I'm really feeling...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08
More and more i'm coming across sites that are not supported by Safari. One would think that 'internet' accessibility and function would be high priority.
Having Safari function like IE would exacerbate the issues we already have, not make them better. Since Firefox has come along there are more sites that try to abide by internet standards, and WebKit is the most compliant and the fastest, too. What are these sites you get access? I havnent seen any in a very long time, sans those that require ActiveX.
Apple needs to drop all this iPhone/TV crap and focus on their core business.
Those are part of their core business and they use OS X at their core.
I started looking at windoze box's because Apple has no solid offerings for visual creative professionals.
I disagree but that is your opinion. I also think Windows has some great options in that area too.
Mac Pro's are a 50/50 gamble that they will be DOA out of the box, and I can't afford the down time of sending machines back 2, 3, 4 times like people are reporting on xlr8 and apple discussion boards.
This is a fact among your experience or are you claiming that 50% of all Mac Pros won't boot up? If the former, then you've had some bad luck; if the latter, that is just more of your FUD. I'm on my 4th AppleTV but that doesn't mean that they have a 75% failure rate.
Also of mention, the New Mac Pro's are quite outdated with their hardware offerings already.
Oh yeah? They were updated on 08-JAN-2008 with Xeons that I can't even find on Dell or HP's site. I haven't checked others.
Apple seems to be focused on it's appliance business so feverishly, that it's neglected quality control on Leopard, Safari and standard computer line of iMacs and towers.
The inclusion of "seems" makes it your opinion. You are entitled to that. I think they have the same issues they've always had but their offerings are quite competent.
I mean seriously, it's pretty damn tough to design a marketing campaign on an iPhone.
The marketing in the UI. It's quite impressive and no other product comes close to the experience.
Sorry man, but looking through your previous posts, it is obvious that you shouldn't be take serious. Sure everybody has a right to voice their opinion. However, all of yours are highly sided against everything about Apple and its products no matter what is the topic of discussion.
Perhaps you have been spending too much time outside in your name. (Vancouver can do that to you)
My apologies folks for wasting your time as well as mine on this.
My apologies folks for wasting your time as well as mine on this.
Now you tell us!
Regarding the Mac Pro issue. When I was getting my G5 and laptop looked at, at our largest retailer out here, I asked a service tech friend how many new Mac Pro's had come back... he said about half.
When I get my new Mac Pro in the next week or two... and if it works perfectly like it should, solving most of my grief... I'll be in better spirits.
I was looking at Alienware.com and some of their sick offerings... 4 core extreme processors running at 4ghz (factory overclocked). Geez.
When I get my new Mac Pro in the next week or two... and if it works perfectly like it should, solving most of my grief... I'll be in better spirits.
I was looking at Alienware.com and some of their sick offerings... 4 core extreme processors running at 4ghz (factory overclocked). Geez.
If you are having issues then I understand your concern. All machines are prone to issues and the more complex they are the more likely there is for something to go wrong.
As for the Alienware machine. doesn't that cost about double the base model Mac Pro? And that has 2 x 2.8GHz Xeon "Harpertown" Penryn w/ 1600MHz FSB compared to the single over-clocked "Yorkfield" with only a 1333MHz FSB.
The RAM Alienware offers is 1333MHz low latency RAM. Since the Xeon's require FB-DIMMS that wouldn't a good fit for the Alienware machines.
They seem to focus of gaming machines. I wouldn't ever use an overlocked machine as a workstation, but that may be some old school thinking on my part.
Not cool.
More and more i'm coming across sites that are not supported by Safari.
Be very, very careful what you wish for. I have a couple of e-mail accounts that "upgraded" their front pages and kept telling me that for "a better experience" I should switch to a compatible browser, i.e. Firefox 1.5 or later. I was very careful not to use Firefox because I didn't want a f***ing "experience," I just wanted to get my e-mail! Well, now they both work with Safari and take f...o...r...e...v...e...r to load. Anybody know a less compatible browser?
Be very, very careful what you wish for. I have a couple of e-mail accounts that "upgraded" their front pages and kept telling me that for "a better experience" I should switch to a compatible browser, i.e. Firefox 1.5 or later. I was very careful not to use Firefox because I didn't want a f***ing "experience," I just wanted to get my e-mail! Well, now they both work with Safari and take f...o...r...e...v...e...r to load. Anybody know a less compatible browser?
IE for Mac and Lynx are a couple.
Be very, very careful what you wish for. I have a couple of e-mail accounts that "upgraded" their front pages and kept telling me that for "a better experience" I should switch to a compatible browser, i.e. Firefox 1.5 or later. I was very careful not to use Firefox because I didn't want a f***ing "experience," I just wanted to get my e-mail! Well, now they both work with Safari and take f...o...r...e...v...e...r to load. Anybody know a less compatible browser?
They are most likely slow because the sites are not actually compliant. Or worse, some sites actively discriminate. WebKit is built expressly to standards, not BS vendor or project specific APIs that web-coders are "encouraged" to use for the "better experience". Safari obviously isn't perfect, but in nearly every situation I have come across, the problem was one where the site coders went out of their way to not follow a standard, and used some restricted proprietary, licensed code, or coded specifically to MSs IE-compatible HTML.
It sucks a little to be on that end, but the iPhone/iTouch wave of web browsers will be a serious wakeup for site coders over the next couple years. The traffic hits generated from WebKit on a mobile platform will drive sites to code standards compliant sites because the traffic analysis will demand it. Side benefit is Safari on macs get the benefit since WebKit is WebKit on both platforms.
Besides, the bottom line is, you should never rely on any built in security measure. Assume that a message sent by a financial institution or the like is false until you know otherwise. Don't click the link, open a new window and manually type the proper URL.
It sucks a little to be on that end, but the iPhone/iTouch wave of web browsers will be a serious wakeup for site coders over the next couple years. The traffic hits generated from WebKit on a mobile platform will drive sites to code standards compliant sites because the traffic analysis will demand it. Side benefit is Safari on macs get the benefit since WebKit is WebKit on both platforms.
I believe WebKit is a more lightweight and scabable browser, too, which will certainly help as more MIDs come on the market. With Android, Some Nokia and the iPhone running WebKit coders will have no choice but to abide. I don't foresee MS giving up majority share anytime soon but I do foresee IE no longer being the "keystone' browser.
If you are having issues then I understand your concern. All machines are prone to issues and the more complex they are the more likely there is for something to go wrong.
I'm still hoping for Commodore to release a new computer. *fingers crossed*
I guess my point is, that it's pretty hard to read an article about Apple these days that doesn't address the sudden drop in quality, or 'quality slipping', or 'growing pains with quality'.
My own experience, and I'll add that i've been computing with Apple for over 20 years now, is that quality assurance has gone out the window in the last 3 -4 years.
Now, we can argue that it's a cause of unprecedented growth, however, we can't forget that we are paying a premium for supposed superior products, and there should be no issues. Or at least very very few.
What I see happening is Apple taking on a similar approach to quality as Ford or GM, and that's the last thing I want to see. Where an atmosphere of quantity pushes aside quality, and the result is a stigma that is near impossible to undo.
I believe the iPod was the start of Apple's shift.
I bleed the company, have a vested interest, and want them to succeed, but they got to get back on the quality track. I don't want to have to learn Japanese.
It's time for them to put some of their brightest guys back on the "hub" as SJ once said. This insane push to be leaders in content distribution might be over extending the talent pool. Spreading themselves a bit thin.
It's harder to manage a successful business then it is a failing one.
Hmmmm... I guess I'm just at the realization that i've been drunk on the koolaid too long.
Regarding the Mac Pro issue. When I was getting my G5 and laptop looked at, at our largest retailer out here, I asked a service tech friend how many new Mac Pro's had come back... he said about half.
When I get my new Mac Pro in the next week or two... and if it works perfectly like it should, solving most of my grief... I'll be in better spirits.
I was looking at Alienware.com and some of their sick offerings... 4 core extreme processors running at 4ghz (factory overclocked). Geez.
Dude maybe you should switch back to windows, am pretty sure that alienware with 4 core extreme processors running at 4ghz, that you been looking at, will make a real good botnet zombie