Websites affiliated with U.S. broadcaster NBC were hacked for several hours on Thursday, serving up malicious software intended to steal bank account details.
On its own technology blog, NBC released a statement saying, “We’ve identified the problem and are working to resolve it. No user information has been compromised.”
Sites such as NBC.com are a frequent target for hackers since the high volume of visitors offers a chance to infect many people in a short period of time.
Facebook and Google blocked access to NBC.com after it was found on Thursday serving up malicious software intended to steal bank account details.
Several computer security companies said the main NBC.com website had been modified to serve up an iframe, which is a way to load content into a website from another domain.
The iframe loaded an exploit kit called Redkit, which tries to see if a visitor is running unpatched software, according to a blog post from Securi, a computer security company based in Menifee, California. The style of attack is known as a drive-by download and can infect a computer when a user merely views a website.
NBC.com was temporarily blacklisted by Google after the attack. Facebook also stopped directing users to NBC.com. Securi wrote that other NBC sites, including ones for TV talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno, were also affected.
The hack follows the release of a report this week from security vendor Mandiant about a long-running hacking campaign allegedly based in Shanghai that targeted U.S. corporations, although it did not immediately appear connected with the problems at NBC.com.
Another computer security firm, SurfRight, wrote on its HitmanPro blog that the NBC attack loaded exploits that look for vulnerabilities in Oracle’s Java programming framework and Adobe’s PDF products. Oracle and Adobe have both released critical updates for their products this month, but hackers hope to hit users who have not updated their computers.
If the attack is successful, one of two malicious software programs is delivered, called Citadel or ZeroAccess. Citadel is a trojan designed to collect account credentials for banks including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase and others, according to Fox-IT, a Dutch computer forensics company.
The version of Citadel analyzed by Fox-IT showed it was being detected by only three of 46 products on VirusTotal, a website where malicious software can be tested for detection against many of the popular security suites.
According to Symantec, ZeroAccess is an advanced rootkit, or a piece of malicious software that hides at a low level in a computer’s operating system. ZeroAccess, detected by Symantec in July 2011, can create its own hidden file system and download other malware to a computer.
The future of shopping was going to be easy and convenient, the experts said. Instead of braving the crowds at the local mall or big box store complex, we’d all stay at home in our PJs, sipping a cup of Joe, sitting behind a keyboard to shop for clothes, food, and other necessities online.
But that future, predicted during the 1990s, has yet to arrive. Here in the 21st century, we still head to the mall and our local shops to buy most of the things we need and, instead of getting out of the retail game, new companies are jumping in, especially technology companies.
The latest tech giant expected to open its own stores is Google. The idea of a Google retail chain, first reported by 9-to-5 Google, isn’t so far-fetched even though Google has so far focused on direct sales to consumers through its online Google Play store.
The company already has Chromebook kiosks inside Best Buy locations across the United States. These stores don’t handle sales directly; they are merely a way for people to try out Chrome OS products.
Kiosks are nice, but Google needs a stronger, independent retail presence as it moves beyond a company best known for offering intangible Web services. Every year, Google packages more of its online services into flashy Google-branded hardware devices such as Nexus tablets and smartphones as and the forthcomingGoogle Glass.
Google's latest hardware: The Pixel
The latest flashy gadget that could impress shoppers on a Google retail show floor is the Pixel, a touchscreen Chromebook with an impressive display resolution and an even more impressive price tag.
Google Pixel Chromebook
The $1,300 Pixel Chromebook features a 12.85-inch display with a resolution of 2560 pixels by 1700 pixels, with 239 pixels per inch, which is the highest pixel density of any laptop on the market, Google says. Under the hood, you get a 1.8GHz Intel “Ivy Bridge” Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 32GB solid state drive, and 1TB of free cloud storage for three years with Google Drive.
But all you get for software with your beautiful new machine is a glorified Web browser, called Chrome OS. That’s going to be a hard sell considering for one hundred dollars less than the Pixel you could pick up a 13-inch MacBook Air with the same processor and RAM, four times the physical storage, and it runs all kinds of desktop apps, including the Chrome Web browser.
I may be underestimating Google’s ability to convey its message of a Chromeified future through marketing and retail outreach. There’s no doubt the Pixel is a beautiful-looking product and sounds enticing, but I just can’t get past the idea that all you get with the Pixel is a browser in a box, albeit a beautiful one.
That’s exactly why reports of Google retail stores make a lot of sense. Who wouldn’t want to put their hands on a Pixel Chromebook and try it out before plunking down more than a grand? And who better than a Google-trained employee to show you how wonderful life with a Pixel Chromebook could be?
When Google finally releases Google Glass to the public, retail stores will also attract a lot of attention for the new non-prescription eyeglasses that merge smartphone functionality into a heads-up display.
Google Glass
Retail pricing estimates for Glass hover around $1,000—limited edition developer units are priced at $1,500. So, when Glass is added in with the Pixel, Google would have another pricey product requiring serious hands-on time before anyone would make a purchase.
That’s the real promise of a Google retail store. It’s not about pushing products out the door, but about offering a showroom for Google’s Android/Chrome/Web ecosystem, right?
Well, not quite, says Stephen Baker vice president of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research firm NPD Group. “The idea that you should open a showroom has been proven to be something close to a disaster and a waste of money,” Baker says. “A retail store works best when it is a combination of a showroom and a place to buy stuff. You lose the vibe, the excitement in the store if it turns into a museum. It’s a lot less interesting to the customer.”
Other tech retailers
Apple retail stores set the trend for technology retail by combining consumer outreach, education, and support, with a clean, simple, and beautiful sales floor. Company CEO Tim Cook recently said Apple plans in 2013 to expand the physical space of 20 of its store locations and open another 30 worldwide.
Not to be left behind by its longtime rival, Microsoft has followed Apple’s retail lead with a similar look and feel in its U.S.-only retail stores. Samsung recently opened aretail store in Canada, its first in North America, and rumblings of Amazon’s retail ambitions resurface every few months.
It’s not yet clear if Google’s reported retail plans would include selling third-party products or focus exclusively on Google-branded Nexus tablets and smartphones, and Chromebooks. Baker says Google would probably do something similar to Microsoft and use its stores to show off Google-related products and services, regardless of who makes them.
“They don’t really have enough hardware products to show people and fill up a store,” Baker says. So it’s a good bet you’ll see popular Android, Chrome, and possibly even Google TV products in a Google retail location.
Hopefully—at least from the company’s perspective—Google would be able to turn people on to the Google way and make a tidy profit from its stores as well. But it doesn’t necessarily have to, says Baker. “Just because they’re selling stuff doesn’t mean the store has to be profitable,” he says Baker.
Google certainly doesn’t want to lose money, Baker notes. But convincing people to purchase Google-focused hardware isn’t the only reason to go into retail, especially when you can use your stores to market a Googleified lifestyle directly to consumers.
And who knows? If Google’s retail assistants offer a compelling pitch, they might even convince a few people to plunk down $1,300 for a stunningly-packaged Web browser.
A touch-enabled version of Linux Ubuntu for developers was released for downloadFriday by Canonical.
Daring users are being warned by the authors of Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview that it's an experimental development snapshot that can potentially "brick" their devices.
They aren't kidding, as InfoWorld writer Galen Gruman discovered. At one point during his experimentation with the mobile OS, he turned his Nexus 4 phone with Ubuntu Touch on it off. It wouldn't come back on.
"Ubuntu Touch killed my Nexus 4," he lamented. "Oh well, the Nexus 4 isn't a great smartphone anyhow."
However, the OS apparently has a Lazarus feature. "[A] few hours later, my dead Nexus 4 came back to life—I have no idea why—with Ubuntu Touch running as if nothing had happened," Gruman wrote.
Ubuntu Touch wipes Android from your phone
When you install the software, it will wipe Android from your device—another reason for caution. However, Google has posted firmware images online that can be used to restore a Nexus device to its factory condition. It's a good idea, though, to make sure the factory image for your device is available from Google before nuking Android from your Nexus device with Ubuntu Touch.
Downloads of the mobile OS are available for the Galaxy Nexus (GSM "maguro" variants only), Nexus 4 ("mako"), Nexus 7 ("grouper"), and Nexus 10 ("manta").
UBUNTUThis example from the Ubuntu wiki shows how the Ubuntu Touch OS looks on phones or tablets.
You can also run the softwareon Sprint and Verizon Galaxy Nexus devices, as well as the 3G Nexus 7. Since the mobile OS doesn't support CDMA or 3G data transfer, its operations are somewhat limited on those devices.
Applications for the preview OS are, as might be expected, scant. There's a browser, a video player, a music player, a Twitter client, a photo-taking app, a Facebook client, a basic note-taker, a basic weather app, and a phone client. Also supported are Ubuntu's built-in speech and voice-searching tool.
Features in the tablet version of the software
The availability of the preview download of Ubuntu Touch comes on the heels of Canonical's announcement of a tablet version of the mobile OS.
Features in the tablet OS, which supports screen sizes from 6 inches to 20 inches, include:
Real multitasking: A phone app on the screen can run at the same time as a tablet app.
Secure multi-user: Multiple accounts on one tablet with full encryption for personal data, combined with the trusted Ubuntu security model that is widely used in banks, governments, and sensitive environments.
Voice controlled Heads-Up-Display design to increase productivity.
Use of screen edges for navigation between apps, settings, and controls, which reduces clutter and displays more content.
Full convergence: Tablet interface is exactly the same as the one used by the OS on phones, PCs, and TVs.
The first Ubuntu phones were originally reported to start arriving on retail shelves in October, but that timetable has been revised by Canonical. It now says its mobile OS will be ready for prime time in October, with Ubuntu phones expected to arrive in thefirst quarter of 2014.
Facebook has patched a serious vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to easily gain access to private user account data and control accounts by tricking users into opening specifically crafted links, a Web application security researcher said late Thursday.
The vulnerability would have allowed a potential attacker to steal sensitive pieces of information known as OAuth access tokens. Facebook uses the OAuth protocol to give third-party applications access to user accounts after users approve them. Each application is assigned a unique access token for every user account.
Goldshlager found a vulnerability on Facebook's websites for mobile and touch-enabled devices that stemmed from improper sanitization of URL paths. This allowed him to craft URLs that could have been used to steal the access token for any application a user had installed on their profile.
While most applications on Facebook are third-party apps that users need to manually approve, there are a few built-in applications that are pre-approved. One such application is Facebook Messenger; its access token doesn't expire unless the user changes his password and it has extensive permissions to access account data.
Facebook Messenger can read, send, upload, and manage messages, notifications, photos, emails, videos, and more. The URL manipulation vulnerability found on m.facebook.com and touch.facebook.com, could have been exploited to steal a user's access token for Facebook Messenger, which would have given the attacker full access the account, Goldshlager said.
Fingered by bug-hunter
The attack URL could have been shortened with one of the many URL shortener services and sent to users masquerading as a link to something else. The attack would also have worked on accounts that had Facebook's two-factor authentication enabled, Goldshlager said.
With the access token and the Facebook user ID, an attacker can extract information from the user account by using the Graph API Explorer, a tool for developers available on Facebook's site, Goldshlager said Friday via email.
According to Goldshlager, the Facebook Security Team fixed the vulnerability. "Facebook has a professional security team and they fix issues very fast," he said.
“We applaud the security researcher who brought this issue to our attention and for responsibly reporting the bug to our White Hat Program,” a Facebook representative said Friday via email. “We worked with the team to make sure we understood the full scope of the vulnerability, which allowed us to fix it without any evidence that this bug was exploited in the wild. Due to the responsible reporting of this issue to Facebook, we have no evidence that users were impacted by this bug. We have provided a bounty to the researcher to thank them for their contribution to Facebook Security.”
The researcher claims that he also found other OAuth-related vulnerabilities that affect Facebook, but declined to reveal any information about them because they haven't been fixed yet.
Facebook runs a bug bounty program through which it pays monetary rewards to security researchers who find and responsibly report vulnerabilities affecting the site.
Goldshlager said on Twitter that he has not yet been paid by Facebook for reporting this vulnerability, but noted that his report included multiple vulnerabilities and that he will probably receive the reward after all of them get fixed.
Facebook pays security researchers very well for finding and reporting bugs, Goldshlager said via email. "I can't say how much, but they pay more then any other bug bounty program that I know."
So, your business has grown large enough that you need your first server. Congratulations! Acquiring a server is a big decision, so some trepidation is understandable. This guide will explain the basic principles of the technology, help you decide which class of server will best fit your needs, and give you some ballpark pricing, so you don’t overspend or acquire a product that’s insufficient for your needs.
I’ll also explore the chief alternative to running your own server--relying on the cloud--and provide a primer on one of today’s hottest server trends: virtualization. You’ll find this guide useful even if you ultimately decide to hire an IT consultant to analyze your requirements and make a purchase recommendation.
Server Basics
Although a small server might look no different from a high-end desktop PC, the machines are designed for very different tasks. A desktop computer is designed for one person who needs a user-friendly operating system to run desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet, an email client, and a Web browser. A server runs a specialized operating system designed to support many users. It’s engineered to run multiuser applications such as email, messaging, and print servers; shared calendar programs; databases; and enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software.
A server also makes it easy for your employees to share data and collaborate, since it operates as a central repository for all of your documents, images, contacts, and other important files. It can host a company intranet, for sharing information with your employees quickly and economically. Set up a virtual private network, and you and your employees can access the data on the server remotely from anywhere you have Internet access. On top of that, a server can automatically back up your desktop and laptop systems, so you’ll never lose critical data if one machine fails or is lost or stolen. Servers are designed to be reliable, secure, and fault-tolerant, with redundant storage options. If you expect your business to expand, choose a server that’s scalable and can grow with you.
If you operate a small to medium-size business, the question isn’t "Do I need a server?" but "Which type of server do I need?" Before we get into that, however, let's address the number-one alternative to operating and maintaining an on-site server: relying on the cloud.
The Cloud Alternative
Why not put everything in the cloud? Services such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Windows Azure, and Rackspace Cloud Hosting offer a number of benefits. For starters, they don't involve a significant capital outlay, and you won’t need an IT staff to manage the server. You won’t need to worry about the equipment or software becoming outdated or obsolete, either. In the days when businesses relied on big-iron mainframes, this strategy was called "time sharing." And the cloud is burdened with many of the same limitations as that model was.
The stability and reliability of whichever service provider you choose is your first and most important concern. If that firm goes belly-up orexperiences a disaster, your business could quickly grind to a halt. What’s worse is that you could temporarily or permanently lose access to all your data. If you lose your connection to the Internet, you’ll be cut off from your applications and data, and your employees won’t be able to share files. You could lose the ability to manage your business until your Internet connection is restored. And if your business uses large files, and your broadband connection is too slow, your operation’s productivity will suffer.
Storing your data on equipment outside your immediate control also brings up privacy and security concerns. And although you’re not paying for an IT staff, ongoing maintenance, and investments in new capital equipment directly, you’re still incurring a share of those costs indirectly--they’re reflected in the fees you’re paying the service provider. The cloud is no cure-all.
Choose the Right Server for Your Needs
The big names in the server market are Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and Oracle. Choosing the right server depends in large measure on the applications you intend to run on it. If all you need is file sharing, automated client backup, and light-duty remote access for PCs (typically ten or fewer), consider a NAS or even a Windows Home Server machine; HP, Netgear, QNAP, Seagate, and Synology are the major players in this arena. If your business has more than ten employees using computers, if you need to operate an email or print server, manage a complex database, or run sophisticated server-based applications (such as ERP or CRM), if you have very large storage requirements, or if you require large-scale virtualization capabilities, you’ll want a more robust option such as a tower, rack, or blade server.
A Virtual-Machine Primer
Before I go into a detailed explanation of each of those server types, here’s a quick primer on virtualization for anyone who might be unfamiliar with the concept. Small to medium-size businesses have been behind the curve when it comes to adopting virtualization to date, but the technology can deliver significant benefits to companies of nearly any size because it allows the enterprise to make more efficient use of IT resources.
Virtualization enables one server to behave as several servers, each with its own operating system and unique set of applications. A virtual machine consists solely of software, yet it has all the components of a physical machine: It has a motherboard, a CPU, a hard disk, a network controller, and so on. The operating system and other applications run on a virtual machine just as they would on a physical machine--they see no difference between the two environments.
In virtualization, a program known as a hypervisor places an abstraction layer between the operating systems and the hardware. The hypervisor can operate multiple virtual machines with the same operating system or different OSs on the same physical server. Microsoft, Oracle, and VMware are among the top virtual-machine developers.
How does virtualization make more efficient use of your IT resources? Servers are designed to accommodate peak--versus average--loads, so they’re underutilized most of the time. In fact, the typical server utilizes only between 5 and 15 percent of its overall resources. Running several virtual machines on one physical server uses those resources more efficiently, boosting utilization to between 60 and 80 percent. Instead of operating one physical server for email, one for database management, one for your intranet, and yet another for CRM, you can run all of those applications on several virtual machines running on the same physical hardware.
Virtualization eliminates the need for additional physical servers, and the tech-support overhead, power, cooling, backup, physical space, and other requirements that go along with them. What’s more, you can deploy a new virtual server in a few minutes.
Now let's examine the various server options on today’s market, starting with the most basic.
Following on the heels of the massive update that was iOS 5, iOS 6 might seem like merely a modest update. But that doesn’t make it insignificant by any means: A key app has received a substantial overhaul in this latest update, Apple has added an intriguing new—if yet unproven—built-in app, and the company has even, for the first time, removed a piece of software present since the iPhone’s launch.
In addition, plenty of iOS’s features have been updated and refined, and user interface conventions have been tweaked across the entire OS. Apple has also put an emphasis on rolling out certain features to both its mobile and desktop operating systems—Facebook integration, Mail VIPs, and so on—ushering in a new strategy of giving the two platforms parity when it makes sense to do so.
Five years after its debut, iOS was already a mature operating system, a stable foundation upon which to build. With all that Apple had already added to it, you might have wondered what was next for the mobile operating system. As it turns out, there's plenty.
Off the map
Every iOS release has its marquee feature, and with iOS 6 it’s unquestionably Maps. The app has gotten a in-depth makeover, perhaps the most thorough ever to be applied to one of iOS’s built-in applications.
What’s new The bow-to-stern overhaul starts deep under the hood, where Apple has replaced the mapping engine that in every previous version of iOS was provided by Google. In its place, Apple has rolled its own solution, supported by mapping data from GPS maker Tom Tom, OpenStreetMap, and a cast of thousands.
As you might expect, such an all-encompassing update means new features, the disappearance of old ones, and plenty of changes in the way things have been done to date.
The first thing that catches the eye when you launch the new and revamped app is that the map itself is front-and-center: On the iPhone, Apple has reduced the amount of chrome around the edges of the interface. The result is a minimalist interface that leaves much more room for the map itself. You’ll find only a search box at the top, flanked by a pair of buttons; another pair of floating buttons in the bottom left corner for locating yourself and activating 3D mode; and the familiar page-curl at the bottom right. There’s also, for the first time on the iPhone, a welcome landscape orientation option.
On the iPad, the app more closely resembles its predecessor, with a couple of shifts in the interface.
Places of interest: The new Maps includes a top-to-bottom overhaul of the mapping engine and the art on the maps.
Due to those changes, using the new Maps may take some getting used to. For example, you no longer have to choose between Search and Direction modes. In either case, you just enter the location or destination in the search box; once you’ve located it, you can get a route by tapping the Directions button.
Speaking of search, Maps now offers suggestions for your search terms. I found this to be hit-or-miss; sometimes the location I was looking for was right at the top, but other times Maps didn’t seem to understand what I was looking for at all. A search for the Eiffel Tower correctly located it in France, but searching for Notre Dame while looking at a Paris map tried to send me to South Bend, Indiana. Much of this can likely be attributed to the Apple’s points of interest database, which doesn’t yet seem to have as much depth as Google’s did.
Apple has at least provided a way to indicate when something is incorrect: Swipe the page curl and then tap the small Report A Problem link above the Print button; the subsequent form provides a variety of different ways to correct the listed information.
Many of Maps’s features remain the same as ever. Bookmarks still give you access to recent searches, contacts, and places you’ve specifically marked. Settings are still hidden behind the page curl, which you can tap or swipe to open; there you’ll find the option to switch between standard, satellite, and hybrid maps—the option for Terrain maps on the iPad has faded into the sunset—as well as a button to drop a pin (which you can also do by tapping and holding on the map) and another to show traffic, which Maps still displays by overlaying red, yellow, and green lines over routes.
On the road: Construction, accidents, and other roadwork incidents now show up on Maps, complete with details.
That traffic information does have some improvements, though: Maps can now display road work alerts, as well as accidents, pulled from local transportation departments. Those details will generally let you know what exactly is happening—road work, a closed ramp, an accident—along with when the alert began, and when it was last updated.
Apple claims the information is real-time, and according to a statement from the company in 2011, it’s been collecting anonymized traffic data in order to build a crowd-sourced traffic database. In addition, directions are supposed to include traffic conditions when providing you with an ETA, and Apple said that directions can be optionally rerouted around traffic, but that was one feature I haven’t yet seen in action in my tests.
Flyovers Another feature that falls by the wayside in iOS 6 is Street View. Google spent a lot of energy collecting street-level imagery of the United States, with a fleet of camera-bearing cars. Apple, on the other hand, has played its one-up card by enlisting an armada of small planes and helicopters to capture aerial imagery for a feature it calls Flyovers.
On the fly: The new Flyovers feature is impressive, and demos to great effect, but there's an open question about just how useful it is.
Flyovers is definitely Maps’ most eye-catching new feature. And what it lacks in practicality, it makes up for in gee-whiz. When you’re viewing satellite maps, tap the 3D button at the bottom left (sometimes indicated with a picture of buildings) or swipe up with two fingers, and you’ll get a whole new dimension of maps. You can pan around with one finger, change perspective with two, and even rotate the map around a central axis by using a two-finger rotate gesture (like turning a dial). If you need to jump back to the standard “north is up” paradigm, you can always tap the compass that appears in the top right corner when you rotate.
The 3D pictures are impressive, though they are so far available almost exclusively in larger cities; even there, get out into the burbs and you start to see only flat, squashed buildings. The images also render fairly slowly, at least in my experience on the latest-generation iPad or iPhone 4S. One of my favorite hidden little features: Zoom out far enough in the satellite view, and you’ll eventually end up with a globe that you can spin around.
The 3D imagery also shows up in the traditional maps, too, with sketched wireframes of the buildings, which is also pretty cool—especially when you watch them rise out of the ground like stepping stones. (In some places, though, I found the wireframe buildings occasionally to be less than accurate in shape.) In 2D mode, you’ll actually see the outlines of buildings shaded on the maps. They’re surprisingly good—I could identify my house just by the outline.
All three Ds: The standard map view also has a 3D view, and there are plenty of points of interest listed on the map as well.Dinner bell, dinner bell, ding ding ding: The new interface for local businesses is both attractive and useful, thanks to integration with Yelp.
Even better, you’ll get little icons that identify businesses, eating establishments, schools, and other points of interest. Tapping on these brings up an address, contact information, and even Yelp reviews and photos where available; for more info, you can jump out to the Yelp app, if you’ve got it installed. Google Maps on the Web has offered features like this for some time, but they never made their way to the iOS app. While such features might be old hat to those who already use the Yelp app, there are likely plenty of converts still to be made by virtue of the integration with Maps.
When it comes to the maps themselves, it’s hard to overstate just how beautiful and responsive they are. Apple uses a vector-based system for drawing the images rather than Google’s bitmaps and, on the latest hardware at least, they practically fly. Zooming, panning, and rotating are all virtually instantaneous. Street names appear and disappear at appropriate levels of zoom, so you’re not bludgeoned by scads of unnecessary information, and they rotate along with the map. Neighborhoods and regions are well marked, and even parks and bodies of water take on a more attractive look. You can also adjust the size of the labels to be smaller or larger, and dictate whether they’re always shown in English or in the native language of the location you’re viewing.
That said, maps in some locales do not always perfectly reflect the environment. On a trip to some of the further reaches of Canada, for example, I noticed disparities between the geographies of the old and new Maps in terms of the shapes of certain landmasses. But in my experience, it was more of an aesthetic difference than anything else.
Turn, turn, turn: Turn-by-turn directions, with Siri's soothing voice, is one of the best features of iOS 6, even if it's occasionally a little rough.
Turn-by-turn directions Browsing maps is fine, but iOS 6’s biggest new feature inside its biggest new feature is the long-awaited addition of turn-by-turn directions. It’s a feature that Google has been providing to Android phones for a while, and its inclusion in iOS 6 marks an attempt to obviate yet another stand-alone electronics device—in this case, the GPS unit. But does it succeed?
Using the turn-by-turn directions feature is easy at least, and you have a couple of different options. In the Maps app, you can search for a destination and then press the Directions button (a right-angle arrow); you’ll be prompted to choose your starting point—by default your current location—and a type of directions: car, walking, or public transportation (more on the last in a moment). Tap Route and you’ll get an overview of the directions.
You can also, as with previous versions of Maps, tap the Directions To Here or Directions From Here button when viewing information about a location. Even quicker than that is to tap the green Quick Route button that shows up next to the location’s name on the map. And, of course, you can also ask Siri (iOS's virtual assistant) to give you directions to a location.
In any of these scenarios, you’ll be given an overview of your route, in some cases including options for multiple routes, as introduced in iOS 5. Maps will give you distances and travel times for each route.
Once you’ve started the directions, you’ll zoom in on your current location, represented with a blue circle and an arrow in it. The current direction will be given with a large road-sign-style dialog box at the top, along with an icon indicating what action you need to take, if any. Siri will speak any directions aloud; if you’re playing music or other audio, it will fade out slightly while Siri tells you what to do, and then fade back in.
As you continue, your location will update and you’ll be prompted with subsequent directions; just like in earlier versions of Maps, a blue line will show you the route you’re taking.
In my estimation: iOS 6 will provide you with an estimated time of arrival for your destination, along with time and distance information.
At any time, you can tap the screen to get an ETA, along with the distance and time. Two buttons let you either end the directions or return to the overview mode, and you can pinch the map to zoom out and back in a small increments. Other than that, you can’t do anything else in the Maps app while directions are being given. However, you can use other apps at the same time: In that case, you’ll see a blue-green bar at the top that says “Tap to return to Navigation”; whenever a turn is imminent, a banner alert will appear with the information about the upcoming direction and Siri will speak the instruction aloud.
If you lock your phone while in navigation mode, Siri will continue to give directions and you’ll be able to see your current location and any other upcoming direction information on the lock screen.
There are a lot of nice touches to navigation mode. For example, I like the floating signs that identify nearby streets, and the fact that the streets you’re going to actually turn onto are marked in blue rather than in green. The instructions to make turns and such are generally large and easy to read, which is good, since you don’t want to spend time squinting at tiny text while you’re driving.
The directions themselves are a mixed bag. I live outside of Boston, which is a notoriously hard city to map; it’s the rare intersection that has more than one 90-degree angle in it. It’s also a city with a lot of odd and perplexing streets, plenty of one-ways, and crazy intersections. If London cabbies are required to prove that they have “the knowledge” before becoming officially licensed, let’s just say that many Boston residents have something we could dub “the know-how.” Maps does reasonably well in my city, with logically straightforward routes—but many of them are ones I wouldn’t take.
That said, the primary purpose of a navigation device—for me and, I’m sure, many of you—is to direct you when you don’t know which way you should go. In that sense, iOS 6’s turn-by-turn directions are generally sufficient—but it probably wouldn’t hurt to have some other maps on hand, just in case.
Step by step, day by day: You can still get the old style step-by-step directions for walking or by specifying a starting point that's not your current location.
For what it’s worth, you can still get the old-fashioned step-by-step style of directions, with this handy little trick: When you ask for directions, enter something other than your current location in the starting location field. (It can even be your current address—just don’t use the current location.) You’ll get the same street-sign-style directions, but you can swipe through them, and Maps will show you were your turns are.
Walking directions use that same step-by-step style rather than turn-by-turn; other than the styling, you won’t find much difference from iOS 5's version of Maps.
Transit directions, however, are a whole new ballgame, as Google apparently got the public transportation database in the divorce. Instead of including built-in transit directions, Apple has added an API to let third-party developers accept transit-direction start and end points.
Routes and ladders: The Maps app no longer offers transit directions, but it can hand them off to supporting third-party apps.
So, while there’s still a toggle button for transit directions while you’re on the Directions screen, selecting it and tapping Route will produce a new screen labeled Routing Apps. There are two separate listings on that screen: the first shows you any apps currently installed on your device that can handle the specified directions along with a Route button; the second shows you apps available on the App Store that can do so.
While routing worked fine in the only app I had available to test, Embark iBART, it won’t give you the exact same experience as you had under iOS 5. For example, Embark iBART provided me with a timetable of which trains I could catch, but it wouldn’t tell me how far I would have to walk from my current destination to make it to the train station, nor would it tell me how far I’d have to walk from the destination stop to my final goal.
This is an odd solution for Apple, which usually prides itself on providing a consistent experience. But I suspect that handling public transit directions simply wasn’t an option for Apple at this point, and if it came down to offering a third-party experience versus no feature at all, Apple opted to not leave its users completely high-and-dry. Speaking from my own experience, I’d long switched over to a third-party app specifically for public transit in my local city, so I’m not sure how much Maps’s change will affect me.
I’m certain that Apple’s mapping will only improve from here; for a company’s first foray into a hotly contested and complicated field, iOS 6’s maps and turn-by-turn directions are remarkably good.
That sounds like a lot of qualification, so let’s revisit our earlier question: Does iOS succeed in replacing your stand-alone GPS device?
In a word: Maybe. In two words: Sort of. If you already have a stand-alone GPS unit or an iOS GPS app that you really like, I’m not going to tell you to throw it out or banish it from your device. But neither am I going to tell you to go out and buy a GPS device because iOS 6 just doesn’t cut the mustard.
Talk to me
Siri was the marquee feature of the iPhone 4S, and while the voice-activated virtual assistant technically remains in beta, in iOS 6 it debuts on the latest-generation iPad; later this fall, it'll come to the fifth-generation iPod touch. In addition to all its old tricks, Siri picks up a few new capabilities in iOS 6. Apple, in particular, has been focusing attention on three areas: sports, movies, and restaurants.
The sporting life: Siri can tell you all about sports in iOS 6, perhaps even more than you want to know.
Sports If you’re the kind of person who always needs to be plugged into the latest sports scores, you probably have plenty of apps on your iOS device already. But now those answers are just a question away: You can ask Siri who won last night’s game, what the score is for tonight’s matchup, when the next game is coming up, or the current standings.
Siri knows about players, too. So if you’re wondering whether Derek Jeter or David Ortiz has more home runs this season, Siri can tell you. It can also tell you who has the highest batting average in the league, as well as a variety of other stats, including height and age. These stats are for just the current season; if you’re looking for all-time leaders, you’re better off consulting Wolfram Alpha.
You can also ask Siri about football, basketball, hockey, and a variety of soccer leagues, including the MLS and the English Premier League. While Siri doesn’t know anything about other sports, it was in my experience at least able to identify golf, tennis, and rugby as sports and apologize for not having more information.
Showtime! Movie showtimes and theaters are available via Siri, as of iOS 6.
Movies If movies are more your cup of tea, Siri can handle that as well. Ask for movies playing near you, and you’ll get a list including ratings from Rotten Tomatoes. (You can also ask for movie theaters nearby; tap any one of those, and you’ll get a list of what’s showing. In my testing, showtimes for several of the theaters seemed to be incomplete.)
Tapping on any movie will give you the Rotten Tomatoes and MPAA ratings and the option to view the trailer by tapping on the movie poster. Showtimes are listed at the bottom; tapping on them shows you which theaters are playing the film. You can’t purchase tickets via Siri’s interface, though; for that you’ll still need to jump out to an app or website.
Siri’s more knowledgable about movie history than about sports. Ask it who won best actor in 1963, and back comes “Gregory Peck” and information about To Kill a Mockingbird. Want to figure out which movie starred actors who had elsewhere portrayed Ghandi and Bob Woodward, and you’ll get the 1992 masterpieceSneakers. Sadly, though, Siri can’t tell you Mark Hamill’s Bacon number.
Reservations, please: The fact that Siri can now make dinner reservations is one of its most impressive capabilities.
Restaurants Restaurant information is probably Siri’s best new feature. iOS 6 has improved the local search options that debuted in iOS 5, thanks to tighter integration with Yelp. Ask “What’s the best place for dinner around here?” and Siri will provide you with a list restaurants near your location, sorted by rating. Each listing also includes the type of cuisine, the address, the distance, and how expensive it is.
Tap on a restaurant and you’ll get hours, phone number, website (if available), address (with a map), and star rating. Tap on the rating to read a few selected comments, to check in at the location, or to write your own tip. (The latter two launch the Yelp app if it’s installed on your system.) You can also tap on the picture in the top left corner to view photos, which also gives you an option to add your own (again, via the Yelp app).
Best of all, if the restaurant uses the OpenTable reservation service, you can tap a button to make reservations or even have Siri do it. “Make me a reservation for two at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at Ruth’s Chris” pops up a panel telling you whether or not tables are available at your chosen time. It even offers you the option to shift that time in one direction or the other. Tap Make Reservation, and the OpenTable app launches (if it’s installed on your phone); if not, you’ll be prompted to download it. Of all Siri’s features, this is the one that strikes me as the most futuristic: I just told my robot assistant to make me dinner reservations—and it did.
Other improvements Beyond those new features, there are a good number of other tasks that Siri can accomplish in iOS 6. For example, you can now launch an app simply by asking Siri to do so. Want to post a tweet or update your status on Facebook? Siri can handle that as well, if you’ve set up your social networking accounts in Settings.
In general, Siri handles certain things a little better now than it did previously. For example, it’s now possible to change the text for a reminder while you’re creating it, and sending someone a message via Siri is a little more streamlined.
Siri still has plenty of shortcomings, however. The virtual assistant still can’t read your email to you, or change your settings (though it will recognize commands to turn on Airplane Mode or Bluetooth), and trying to edit an email message or iMessage you’ve composed via Siri is liable to induce hair-tearing for anything but the shortest messages. And much as I would like to be able to offer an opinion on Siri’s Eyes Free mode, it’s surprisingly difficult to get a BMW test unit.
Why so blue? Siri now has an option that lets you control where its audio output will go when there are multiple options.
Perhaps my favorite new feature in Siri is one of the simplest: You can control where the audio output of iOS’s virtual assistant goes. When there's more than one option—say, for example, that you’re in your car, with its fancy Bluetooth stereo—a button appears that allows you to route Siri’s voice to either the iPhone’s speakers or your car’s, thereby solving a problem that has likely had plenty of us swearing at our phones.
Still, I’m heartened by the fact that Apple hasn't ditched Siri by the roadside, despite the grief the feature has taken in some places. This is one of those technologies that has the potential to redefine how we interact with our electronic devices, but it’s not going to spring forth fully formed; it’s a slow, gradual process that won’t seem revolutionary until we look back at how far we’ve come.
Even if iOS 6 doesn’t perfect the virtual assistant, I look forward to seeing what Siri masters next.
Passing on Passbook
Pass the book: Passbook may be a nifty idea, but it's too early to tell how much impact it will have.
I’d love to tell you that Passbook is another one of those revolutionary technologies I just mentioned—heck, I’d love to tell you anything about Passbook. But unfortunately, as I write this the app remains an enigma. I’ve been unable to locate an app or business that is actively taking advantage of the app, so all I know is what Apple has told us: The goal of Passbook is to collect all those disparate cards and tickets you carry around into a single, central location.
So your movie tickets, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, boarding passes, coupons, stored value cards, and so on, will all live in Passbook. When you head into the relevant establishment or location, you can pull out Passbook and display the correct card, complete with a scannable barcode. Passes can even be time or location based, popping up a notification on your lock screen at the appropriate moment.
It’s a great idea, and I have visions of how it could evolve: Imagine buying movie tickets via Siri and having them automatically show up in Passbook. But while itsounds nifty, we’re going to have to see how this feature fares in the real world and, most importantly, how many other companies decide to support it.
7:33:00 PM
