Apple Devices Become Target Of Hackers

Apple OS used to be considered safe from hackers.

As a fairy tale, there was once a computer operating system which no one dared or was able to hack into. It was magical in how it prevented those who had mischief in their hearts from gaining unauthorized access. That wonderful time last for many years. While that may have been virtually true, it has been all but shattered in recent years with hackers able to infect Apple computers. It has only been in recent months where Apple has reluctantly removed their claims for the Mac OS X saying it does not get viruses. That is a sad state for all the Apple diehards who have been somewhat removed from all the other problems which are being experienced on Windows PCs. That is not to say the Apple OS has not had problems, just that it has not had a lot of problems with viruses and spam.

Apple used to advertise this fact on their web site page, but it has been updated as reported by Naked Security in June. While there was nothing said by Apple with the change, it does tell just how bad things have become and the Mac OS is no longer considered as one difficult for hackers to gain access to. Much of that change is due to the growing popularity with much credit going to Steve Jobs.

And the virus problems are not limited to the computers and the iPhone is expected to have viruses by year end. And this is all due to the growth of their devices. Android has been experiencing problems for quite a while now, but we have not heard of too much related to the iPhone. That is going to change.

While Apple has been more successful than Android in keeping malicious software out of its mobile operating system, security firm Kaspersky reports it has seen an increase in malicious threats, and that Apple is not yet as advanced as Microsoft in its security systems.

If you own a Mac or iPhone, you need to take note of this change. And you can expect to see a rise in attacks against Apple products as the year continues. There are not too many products to prevent virus infections on Apple products as there are for Windows based products. This is more than likely going to be changing this year as companies move to fill the need to protect Apple products. If you are the owner of a MacBook or iPhone, you will need to watch for and consider purchasing a product to protect your device.

One of Apple's big selling points has now disappeared and is a sign of the times. Those who create viruses and spambots target devices which are very popular and Apple has done a great job of becoming very popular. Now they have to defend their products from viruses and spambots.

Get A Paid Email Address From Reagan.Com

t only costs you $39.95 per year for the privilege.

Do you feel patriotic about President Ronald Reagan, our 40th President of the United States? If you do, you now have the opportunity to get an email addressed associated with his name at Reagan.com. No, this is not the official site of RonaldReagan.com, but rather that of his son Michael. Just think of the prestige of having your email hosted at Reagan.com and doing your patriotic duty to recognize his prominence in history and support the Republican party. A decent sales pitch, but we are not exactly in favor of this kind of thing.

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Will Apple Get Samsung Galaxy S3 Ban In US?

After trial verdict, Apple wants sales ban to block Galaxy S3.

Since the jury decision against Samsung, we have been expecting to see Apple move forward with attempts to get a ban on selected Samsung products. Apple has now added the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note 10.1 to the list of products they want to see blocked from sales in the US. These are not part of the existing case involving the Galaxy Nexus, but in an amended complaint Apple has added them to the list. This is more than likely because of their recent success last month where they won a jury verdict of over $1 billion against Samsung and looks to be part of ongoing efforts to impact Samsung sales in the US.

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China Smartphone Growth Faster Than Expected, Apple Slows

Expected growth happening far faster than was estimated for China.

It looks like smartphone growth in China has skyrocketed this year in China and they will soon be taking over the number 1 spot in the world. They will surpass the US in smartphone sales and ownership this year which is far faster than previously estimated to happen. In a recent report from IDC, they are talking about the rapid growth of smartphones in China and the decline of “feature” phones there as well. And in a surprising note, Apple has lost ground in China for market share which should be considered a significant change for them.

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Google And Apple Finally Working To Solve Differences

It seems that Apple has been attacking Google indirectly by suing companies which are using the Android OS. The most recent case was the Apple v Samsung in which the verdict last week sided with Apple. It looks as if the Android OS is the intended target for Apple, but they have not gone after Google yet. And that may be the reason for reports (or rumors) of the 2 companies actually talking right now.

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Get A Paid Email Address From Reagan.Com

It only costs you $39.95 per year for the privilege.

Do you feel patriotic about President Ronald Reagan, our 40th President of the United States? If you do, you now have the opportunity to get an email addressed associated with his name at Reagan.com. No, this is not the official site of RonaldReagan.com, but rather that of his son Michael. Just think of the prestige of having your email hosted at Reagan.com and doing your patriotic duty to recognize his prominence in history and support the Republican party. A decent sales pitch, but we are not exactly in favor of this kind of thing.

Seems that Michael Reagan has decided to make some money off of his fathers name through the Reagan.com email services for $39.95 per year. That seems to be extremely high given all of the free addresses which are available from the likes of Google and Yahoo. Profits from the email service are supposed to be channeled to conservative causes.

This is supposed to counteract the supporters of liberal causes which are reportedly supported by the large email providers. Now, that may not be enough for some to jump on the band wagon and subscribe to Reagan.com. While there are very few mail services where you have to pay for services any more, there are still some out there. For this particular service, they are trying to use fear as a way to get you to sign up. On the home page, they talk about other email providers scanning your Inbox and collecting information from your email and about you. That is probably the case for just about all of them, though this one promises to not do that.

In the end, this is about making money for a business. And this business is using the name of a former President to do that. Even though it is family, is this the right thing to do? You can get a lot of debate over that question with people on either side strongly sticking up for their opinion. For Michael Reagan, this will provide him profit based on his family name.

The scary part of this is there are others doing a similar thing, such as ReaganEmail.com. You don't see a lot of this kind of thing with other Presidents, though it does exist. We can hope that this is an isolated instance for monopolizing on a former Presidents name for someone to make money from.

What do you think?

China Smartphone Growth Faster Than Expected, Apple Slows

Expected growth happening far faster than was estimated for China.

It looks like smartphone growth in China has skyrocketed this year in China and they will soon be taking over the number 1 spot in the world. They will surpass the US in smartphone sales and ownership this year which is far faster than previously estimated to happen. In a recent report from IDC, they are talking about the rapid growth of smartphones in China and the decline of "feature" phones there as well. And in a surprising note, Apple has lost ground in China for market share which should be considered a significant change for them.

Much of this is being reported by Reuters where Apple went from a 20% market share down to a 10% market share. That is too much for Apple to ignore given the sales potential which exists in China. It appears that the higher priced Apple devices, while coveted, are just too expensive for people with all the other phones available. And those other phones come at cheaper prices and a large number of features which people want to see. Even the iPhone 5 has been copied and is on sale from Goophone with a picture above from their web site. Since the iPhone 5 is not even on sale yet, this is a problem for Apple. The Goophone is running Android and is undoubtedly far cheaper than the coming iPhone 5. This will erode their market share even more.

Apple's market share dropped to 10% from the previous 20% in the current April through June period. Apple is now in 4th place in overall market share. Leveno and ZTE top the list behind Samsung and are local companies in China. Samsung was ranked 1st in the IDC report and their market share dipped from 21 percent to 19 percent. Apple came in 4th in the recent report. Some can attribute Apple's drop due to the anticipation of the coming iPhone 5, but with the Goophone being out, that may not be the case and Apple could slip again in coming reports.

The smartphone growth in China is happening a year sooner than was expected as lower priced smart phones have entered into the market there. Given the report predictions, the US will lose it's position as the number 1 country for smartphone ownership. This is predicted to happen no later than December of this year where China will have 26.5% of the market sales, US with 17% and the UK in 3rd with 4.5%. This is not to say that the US is slowing down in smartphone sales, but that lower priced smart phones are being purchased in China to replace feature phones there. But, the US will remain behind China from that point on due to the population size differences.

With the lower priced Goophone coming out as a copy of the iPhone 5, Apple stands to lose some sales as a result. But for China, their standing in the market place for smartphones is heading upwards and soon there will be no challengers to their standing for smartphone market share.