Knowing

Yesterday, Apple has seeded iTunes 10.5 Beta 8 to developers with support to iTunes Match.

• • Songs in unsupported formats will not be uploaded to iCloud at this time.
  • The scan & match feature is not yet complete.
  • Some songs may not match (even if they is available in the iTunes Store) and will be uploaded to iCloud.
  • Other songs may match to a different version of the same song on the iTunes Store.
  • You can only add music to iCloud from more than one computer at a time.
  • After updating to iOS 5 beta 7, your music may fail to play.  If this happens, turn of
  • Songs in unsupported formats will not be uploaded to iCloud at this time.
  • The scan & match feature is not yet complete.
  • Some songs may not match (even if they is available in the iTunes Store) and will be uploaded to iCloud.
  • Other songs may match to a different version of the same song on the iTunes Store.
  • You can only add music to iCloud from more than one computer at a time.
  • After updating to iOS 5 beta 7, your music may fail to play.  If this happens, turn off iTunes Match in Settings > Music, and turn it back on.

Apples iPhone is a prime example for a well-engineered netlock protection. To this day, it has been uncracked in principle: the current unlock solutions just patch the firmware running on the baseband modem to the effect that the netlock checks are overriden. These solutions basically inject code into the firmware on the fly by exploiting buffer/heap overflows. A small piece of homebrew software runs on the application processor for just doing that - a jailbreak is therefore a prerequisite for an unlock. The patches cant be permanently applied to the firmware of 3G and later devices because it is signature-checked by the baseband bootloader before it is executed. Whenever Apple decides to update the baseband firmware, they fix the injection holes. Firmware downgrades are blocked, so a way to permanently unlock the baseband has yet to be found for models other than the first iPhone 2G. In a nutshell, the protection works like this:

• Two identification numbers unique to each device are generated from the NOR flash and baseband CPU serials: the norID and the chipID, 8 respectively 12 bytes in size.


• The device-specific deviceKey is generated from truncating a SHA1 hash of the concatenated and padded norID and chipID.


• A supposedly random NCK (network control key) is SHA1-hashed. With the hashed NCK and the norID and chipID, the second key nckKey is generated. The hashing algorithm uses Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA). The nckKey is also device-specific since both the norID and chipID are used.


• A device-specific RSA signature is generated: two SHA1 hashes are generated from the norID and chipID. The status that the lock has after the correct NCK has been entered is also embedded into this message. The PCKS 1.5 format is used to pad the hashes and the status from (2*160+32) bit to 2048 bit (256 byte).


• The asymmetric RSA algorithm is used for the encryption of the unlock signature. Keep in mind that the algorithm uses two different keys: a private key for encryption and a public key for decryption. With the private RSA key, the signature is encrypted and stored in protected memory.


• This signature is encrypted with TEA once again using the device-specific deviceKey in CBC mode.

1. The NCK is only stored indirectly on the device in a protected area.


2. The signature which contains the information about the NCK is directly linked to the device. Hence, replicating a signature from another device will not work.


3. The NCK is a 15 digit number which is presumably not dependent on the IMEI or any other serial number, but completely random.


4. Brute force attacks are foiled because a few expensive operations are necessary just to verify the code and the key space is large, e.g. the number of possible key combinations is big.


5. A valid signature is implicitly required for an unlocked device. Factory-unlocked devices are shipped with such a signature, and during the official unlock process, this signature is generated.


6. A fake signature for a device with known norID, chipID and NCK can not be generated because the private RSA key is unknown.


7. Consequent code signing makes permanent firmware patches impossible.


8. Interestingly, the signature check itself is executed in the bootloader which isnt touched during a firmware upgrade.

Most of these photos don’t look like anything special—just snapshots of a familiar face. But when you get to the last one, a picture of a Foxconn Brazil quality control form, you’ll notice something strange: a different model number, N90A

According to Apple that iPad 2 launching in 13 more countries, 

China will get WiFi iPad 2 beginning Friday, May 6.

The device will go on sale in:

Japan on Thursday, April 28, 2011

and in eleven additional countries on Friday, April 29, 2011: 

Hong Kong,

India,

Israel,

Korea,

Macau,

Malaysia,

Philippines,

Singapore,

South Africa,

Turkey 

UAE.

CUPERTINO, California—April 27, 2011—Apple® today announced that iPad® 2, the second-generation of its breakthrough post-PC device, will arrive in Japan on Thursday, April 28 and Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and eight additional countries on Friday, April 29. iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores at 9 a.m. local time, select Apple Authorized Resellers, and online through the Apple Store® (http://www.apple.com/) beginning at 1 a.m. Additionally, iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in China beginning Friday, May 6.

iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same stunning 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. iPad 2 features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime® and Photo Booth®, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video, bringing the innovative FaceTime feature to iPad users for the first time. Though it is thinner, lighter, faster and packed with new features, iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life* that users have come to expect.

Pricing & Availability
iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in Japan on April 28 and Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE on April 29 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in China on May 6, and further international availability will be announced at a later date.iMovie® and GarageBand® for iPad apps are available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store℠ on iPad orwww.itunes.com/appstore. The Smart Cover is available in a range of colors in vibrant polyurethane for $39 (US) or rich leather for $69 (US).

Apple has released Safari 5.1.2 to users this afternoon, available by direct download or by hitting up Software Update. The update is relatively minor, but brings along bug fixes that address issues of stability, extensive memory usage, fixing web pages that were flashing white, and now allows PDFs to be displayed within web content. Go ahead and download!

• Improve stability 
• Allow PDFs to be displayed within web content
• Address issues that could cause hangs and excessive memory usage
• Address issues that could cause web pages to flash white

In iOS 5.0 beta 2, wireless syncing is now available for the Mac. It requires iTunes 10.5 beta 2 and OS X 10.6.8 or Lion. You will see an option to enable wireless syncing when you connect your device to iTunes with the USB cable. It is recommended you perform your initial sync with a cable after restoring your device.
Wireless syncing is triggered automatically when the device is connected to power and on the same network as the paired computer. Or, you can manually trigger a sync from iTunes or from Settings -> General -> iTunes Sync (same network as paired computer required). Be sure your device is plugged into a power source when performing Wireless syncs.

• iTunes 10.5 beta 1 won’t work with iOS 5 beta 2
• iMessage seed 2 will be unable to communicate with iMessage users on seed 1.

• OTA updates have been released, though none are currently available
• iCloud has a new logo in the Settings.app
• You can now backup to iCloud or the computer when setting the device up
• If no notifications are available, Notification Center shows the text “No New Notifications”
• Stock widget in the Notification Center is now off by default
• Stock wallpapers are back, but are the same that were in iOS 4

Summary

Apple Confirming Officially iPhone 5 Event On October 4th!

From: iCloud <noreply@icloud.com>
Date: October 5, 2012, 3:38:18 PM PDT
To: 9to5mac
Subject:Your complimentary iCloud storage upgrade has been extended at no charge
Reply-To:no-reply@apple.com

When you moved your MobileMe account to iCloud, we provided you with a complimentary storage upgrade beyond the standard 5GB that comes with an iCloud account to help you with the transition. Originally, this storage upgrade was set to expire on September 30, 2012.
As a thank you to our former MobileMe members, we will continue to provide you with this complimentary storage upgrade at no charge, for an additional year, until September 30, 2013. No action is required on your part. For complete details, please read this article.

iCloud Team