2025-01-03 06:17:57
Telegram today announced the launch of a new feature that will allow official third-party services to assign extra verification icons to user accounts and chats. The added verification is meant to cut down on scams and reduce misinformation.
While Telegram already has a verification process for public figures and organizations, trusted third-party services will be able to provide additional verification options. A chat or account that has a third-party verification will be marked with a small logo before their name, and opening the associated profile will show a more detailed explanation of the account's status and what it means.
Third-party verification is separate from the verified checkmarks that Telegram provides to public figures and organizations. A service that wants to provide third-party verification to others must first be verified by Telegram and must complete an application.
According to Telegram, third-party verification will make it easier for users to independently confirm the people they contact and services they interact with.
Along with the new verification option, Telegram added support for collectible gifts, reactions for service messages, extra message search filters, and more.
Telegram says that its first major update of 2025 was actually supposed to come in on the last day of 2024, but it was "sadly delayed by a lack of attention from Apple's review team."
2025-01-03 03:17:55
Apple will pay $95 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit involving Siri spying accusations, reports Reuters. The lawsuit alleges that Apple recorded conversations captured with accidental Siri activations, and then shared information from those conversations with third-party advertisers.
Two plaintiffs claimed that after speaking about products like Air Jordan shoes and Olive Garden, their devices showed ads for those products, while another said he received ads for a surgical treatment after discussing it privately with his doctor.
The lawsuit dates back to 2019, after a report outed the private conversations that contractors were privy to when Siri was accidentally activated. Apple was using contractors to evaluate Siri recordings to make improvements to the service, and employees claimed to have heard confidential medical information, drug deals, intimate moments, and other private data.
Apple was never secretive about the fact that some Siri recordings were analyzed by humans, but the company's privacy terms at the time did not explicitly state that there was human oversight of Siri. The customers that filed the lawsuit said that Apple did not inform consumers that they are "regularly being recorded without consent," and they claimed they would not have purchased Apple devices had they known about the Siri recordings.
While the lawsuit initially focused on Apple's lack of disclosure, the first filing was dismissed in February 2021 because it did not include enough concrete data about the recordings that Apple allegedly collected. An amended complaint that focused on Siri recordings used for "targeted advertising" was refiled in September 2021, and that was allowed to move forward.
There has been no evidence that Apple ever provided Siri recordings or information from Siri recordings to advertisers, and Apple's privacy policies have long made it clear that any data collected from Siri for the purpose of improving the feature is anonymized and not associated with a specific user.
In the settlement filing, Apple says that it "continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability, specifically denies each of the Plaintiffs' contentions and claims, and continues to deny that the Plaintiffs' claims and allegations would be suitable for class action status." Apple is settling to avoid further costs of litigation.
The settlement has received preliminary approval from the court. According to the filing, all current or former owners or purchasers of a Siri device in the United States whose confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024 are considered class members and could be eligible for a payment.
A settlement website will be set up to identify those eligible to participate within 45 days, with Apple required to share contact information for customers who purchased a device with Siri capabilities. Claim information will be collected until May 15, 2025, after which time the settlement will be finalized and payments will go out to eligible customers. Each class member will be able to submit claims for up to five Siri devices, receiving up to $20 for each one. The actual settlement payment will depend on the total number of valid claims that are submitted.
After the 2019 scandal about contractors listening to accidental Siri recordings, Apple temporarily suspended its Siri evaluation program, stopped using contractors, and implemented options that allow users to delete Siri recordings and block them from being listened to. In later updates, Apple moved some Siri processing on-device, reducing the content that's uploaded to its servers.
2025-01-03 02:29:21
Amazon is kicking off the year with numerous all-time low prices on Apple Watch Series 10, perfect timing for anyone looking for a smartwatch to help fulfill any New Year's health and fitness resolutions. You'll find $70 off both 42mm and 46mm GPS Series 10 models in multiple case colors and band styles, and this time the deals do not require any coupon codes.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Every price listed below is a match of the record low prices on the Apple Watch Series 10, and in some cases delivery is slipping into February. If you've been eyeing an Apple Watch Series 10 as a way to help keep up with your New Year's resolutions, and didn't get one for the holidays, now is the time to purchase one at these best-ever prices.
2025-01-03 02:12:57
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced that Apple has added a warning label to the AirTag's box that says to keep its coin-cell battery out of reach of children due to the severe risk of injury or death if the battery is ingested. Apple added a corresponding warning symbol inside the AirTag's battery compartment too.
Apple made these changes at some point after "Reese's Law" went into effect in March 2024, according to the announcement. The CPSC did not indicate if the warnings were added to the AirTag in the U.S. only or worldwide.
"Reese's Law" aims to prevent injuries and deaths caused by the tiny, circular coin-cell batteries. The law was named after Reese Hamsmith, a baby who died in 2020 after swallowing a coin-cell battery that was inside of a remote control.
Given that many AirTags without these warnings had already been sold, the CPSC said Apple now displays a warning about the hazards of coin-cell batteries in the Find My app each time a user is prompted to change the AirTag's battery.
The announcement was first reported by macReports.
Apple is expected to release an AirTag 2 this year with longer range for item tracking. It is also rumored that the AirTag 2's built-in speaker will be more difficult to remove compared to the original AirTag, as an anti-stalking measure.
2025-01-03 01:09:41
It's nearly the end of the road for the Apple Watch Series 4, which was added to Apple's public-facing vintage products list today.
All aluminum and stainless steel 40mm and 44mm models of the Apple Watch Series 4 are now considered vintage worldwide. Apple considers a device to be vintage once five years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers may offer repairs for vintage devices if parts remain available.
Apple Watch Series 4 models launched in 2018, ushering in a major new design with a thinner case and a 30% larger display than before.
The latest watchOS 11 update dropped support for the Apple Watch Series 4, as well as the Apple Watch Series 5 and the original Apple Watch SE.
Apple also added the final 15-inch MacBook Pro model to the vintage products list today. This particular model launched in May 2019, and it was pretty quickly succeeded by the first 16-inch MacBook Pro in November of that year.
2025-01-02 22:54:20
Apple has announced rare direct discounts on its flagship iPhone models and other products in China, signaling an effort to counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand in one of its largest markets.
Between January 4 and January 7, Apple will provide discounts of up to 500 yuan (approximately $68) on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models through its website and Apple Stores in mainland China. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models will be discounted by 400 yuan, while iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models will receive markdowns of up to 300 yuan. Other products, including the MacBook Air, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pencil, will also see price reductions, with the MacBook Air eligible for a discount of up to 800 yuan. The promotional items are available in limited quantities, with only 29,300 iPhones included in the sale. The promotion is tied to specific payment methods, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.
Apple rarely offers direct discounts on its latest products, particularly its flagship iPhone models. Such promotions are usually handled by third-party retailers in China, especially during major shopping events like Singles Day, when platforms like Alibaba's Tmall and Pinduoduo slash prices to drive sales. For instance, during the last Singles Day shopping festival in November, iPhone 16 models were discounted by as much as 1,600 yuan on Tmall. The timing of the latest promotion comes as Apple faces heightened competition from Huawei and other Chinese brands, although the company did offer a similar promotion last year.
