Month: February 2022

Enlarge / The 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple has released updates for iOS/iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS that primarily address bugs and security vulnerabilities.

iOS 15.3.1 is a minor update, feature-wise, for most users. It fixes a problem with Braille displays and addresses an arbitrary code execution vulnerability.

Apple’s iOS update notes are as follows

Enlarge / AirTag box at an Apple Store on April 30, 2021, in Sydney, Australia. (credit: Getty Images | James D. Morgan)

Apple yesterday announced upcoming AirTag updates designed to combat stalking and other unwanted tracking.

“AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person’s property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products,” Apple said. Thieves have used AirTags to track high-end cars, and stalkers have used the devices to track women. Apple’s update yesterday acknowledged that the company has “seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.”

AirTags already have some safety features, such as making beeping sounds when they’ve been away from their linked devices for a day. iPhones also receive warnings about unknown AirTags nearby. But the beep can be difficult to hear, and the timing of the warnings apparently varies. One person who was tracked “said she was notified four hours after her phone first noticed the rogue gadget,” while “others said it took days before they were made aware of an unknown AirTag,” a New York Times article in December said.

Enlarge / Alienware AW3423DW. (credit: Scharon Harding)

We now have an idea of how much QD-OLED screens will run you compared to the OLED panels we know today.

OLED is already an expensive, high-end display technology, but Samsung’s QD-OLED puts a quantum-dot spin on the tech, promising image enhancement and improved color coverage. We’re still waiting to learn how much QD-OLED TVs will cost, but the first PC monitor with the tech, coming this spring, will be $1,300.

Samsung Display announced QD-OLED, or Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode, last month, with TVs and monitors expected this year. The new type of OLED panel is supposed to provide the same deep blacks and rich contrast that make OLED popular among HDR users, gamers, and anyone who wants a crisp image. The difference is that the new tech uses a blue OLED material that goes through a layer of quantum dots. This setup is supposed to ensure vivid color regardless of the screen’s brightness setting, plus more detail in highlighted areas. (For an in-depth look, check out our story explaining what QD-OLED is.)

Enlarge / OnwardMobility’s teaser image. A phone never arrived in 2021. (credit: OnwardMobility)

BlackBerry phones will remain dead.

In 2020, we reported on OnwardMobility, a startup that licensed the BlackBerry brand for smartphones and planned to release a new QWERTY Android phone. There was a lot to worry about when the company missed its promised 2021 deadline, and just last month, it had to make a blog post titled “Contrary to popular belief, we are not dead.”

Well, the company’s plans are now dead. Both Daniel Bader of Android Police and Kevin Michaluk (the founder of Crackberry) are independently reporting that OnwardMobility has lost its Blackberry license. Bader says, “According to sources, BlackBerry is looking to further distance itself from its days as a smartphone vendor after selling the remainder of its mobile patent portfolio for $600 million earlier this month.”