Today’s topics include Apple focusing on upgrades to iPad Pros, big screen iPhones and Macs, and Fortnite installer vulnerabilities highlighting mobile app store risks.
While 2018 is not going to be a year of massive upgrades to the iPhone, Apple is focusing on making major enhancements to other parts of its product line. Apple this year will update the Mac Mini for the first time in four years, adding new processor choices, new storage options and possibly new pricing.
The iPad Pro is also expected to get some long overdue enhancements, with Apple replacing the 10.5-inch iPad Pro with an 11-inch version along with a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro. In addition, Apple will replace the MacBook Air with a new low-cost notebook.
Plus, a new, less expensive iPhone will have a slightly larger screen than the current iPhone X, and it will be an LCD screen instead of the iPhone X’s OLED screen. Apple will also do away with the home button and the integrated fingerprint reader in favor of Apple’s Face ID.
Google has discovered a high-profile flaw in Epic Games’ Fortnite, played by millions of players around the world on different platforms, highlighting why users may want to stick to apps in Google Play.
Fortnite is not available on the Google Play store for Android; rather, Epic Games decided to bypass Google and use a third-party store to deliver its game.
The serious vulnerability publicly disclosed on Aug. 25, according to Google, is that rather than provide a full installation of its software, Epic Games instead first uses an installer application that pulls the required APK. However, the APK installation process is not properly secured, potentially enabling an attacker to deliver malicious code.
Epic Games responded to Google’s claims and had a fix in place on Aug. 16.