Thursday, 23 October 2014
Here's Why Your iPhone Photos Sometimes Appear Upside Down
Ever import or email a photo taken with your iPhone, only to find it upside down on your computer?
It's actually a common complaint that's been around ever since Apple made it possible to take photos using your iPhone's volume buttons in iOS 5.
But there's a reason for it.
Apple decided that when you capture a photo with the volume buttons facing skyward, like most people do since we're used to camera shutter buttons being on top, this is actually upside down.
Apple also wants to keep the process of capturing and saving a photo to be as fast as possible so you can keep snapping away. To keep things speedy, rather than re-orient the photo and devote processing time to that action, your iPhone actually just saves your photo and includes the correct orientation in the photo's EXIF metadata, according to iPhonePhotographySchool.
It may sound complicated, but basically your iPhone photos do contain information on the correct orientation, but it's recorded in the photo's metadata, which not all photo viewing programs recognize.
Luckily, if you're using one of Apple's programs to view your photo such as iPhoto or Preview, these programs will recognize the orientation metadata and you won't notice any issues. Most Mac programs are like this.
The issue arises once you email your photo or open it in Windows using something like Windows Photo Viewer, which won't always recognize the metadata.
There's been plenty of argument over who is truly at fault here. Is it Apple for failing to define the iPhone as "right-side up" when the volume buttons face upward (seriously, who takes pictures with the volume buttons facing down)? Or is it the fault of photo viewing programs that don't read the metadata?
Thankfully, it's becoming less of an issue thanks to Windows 8 and other Windows photo viewing applications now paying attention to the EXIF metadata.
If you're stuck with an earlier version of Windows or your favorite photo viewing program, there's a few fixes you can try.
The easiest is just to take pictures with the volume buttons facing downward, which sidesteps the problem entirely but is still plenty annoying. Another option is to use a third-party app like Camera+ that also records orientation so you don't have to worry about the EXIF metadata.
It's not a perfect fix, but hopefully these options will keep you sane while you wait for either Apple to change its definition of right-side up or the rest of your photo viewing programs to catch up.
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
iPhones, iPads safe but Apple posts a new security warning for its iCloud users
Apple Inc has posted a new security warning for users of its iCloud online storage service amid reports of a concerted effort to steal passwords and other data from people who use the popular service in China - company does say its iPhones, iPads and Macs are safe.
''We're aware of intermittent organized network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information, and we take this very seriously,'' the computer-maker said in a post Tuesday on its support website. The post said Apple's own servers have not been compromised.
Apple's post did not mention China or provide any details on the attacks. But several news outlets reported Tuesday that some Chinese Internet users have begun seeing warnings that indicate they had been diverted to an unauthorized website when they attempted to sign into their iCloud accounts.
That kind of diversion, known to computer security experts as a ''man in the middle'' attack, could allow a third party to copy and steal the passwords that users enter when they think they are signing into Apple's service. Hackers could then use the passwords to collect other data from the users' accounts.
Chinese activists blamed the attacks on that country's government, according to news reports and the Chinese activist website GreatFire.org, which suggested the campaign was spurred by the fact that Apple recently began selling its newest iPhone models, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, in China. The new smartphones have software with enhanced encryption features to protect Apple users' data.
Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, said in its post that the attacks have not affected users who sign into iCloud from their iPhones or iPads, or on Mac computers while using the latest Mac operating system and Apple's Safari browser. But the company suggested users should verify they are connecting to a legitimate iCloud server by using the security features built into Safari and other browsers such as Firefox and Google's Chrome. The browsers will show a message that warns users when they are connecting to a site that doesn't have a digital certificate verifying that it is authentic.
''If users get an invalid certificate warning in their browser while visiting www.icloud.com , they should pay attention to the warning and not proceed,'' Apple said in the post. The attacks appear unrelated to an episode last month in which hackers stole nude photos from the iCloud accounts of several US celebrities
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
HTC One M8 Android 5.0 Lollipop Update to Arrive in January – February 2015
| Cellcom |
| Cellcom Communications |
| Cellcom Montreal |
| Bell |
| Bell Mobility |
| Bell Mobile |
| Fido |
Back in June, when Android L was officially introduced, HTC was one of the first phone makers to announce they will be bringing the new update on their One M7 and One M8 flagships within 90 days after Google makes the final code available. Now, a report coming from LlabTooFeR reveals that the HTC One M8 Android 5.0 Lollipop update will be released sometime in January – February 2015.
Even though the information doesn’t come directly from Taiwanese company, LlabTooFeR has a straight record when it comes to reports about HTC devices. The report also reveals that the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for HTC One M7 will also arrive in January – February time frame, and that the Google Play Edition One M7 and One M8 will be the first HTC devices to get the update, sometime in November – December.
The aforementioned report also claims that the new Android 5.0 Lollipop update will also include HTC’s new Eye Experience software suite. As you may know, the Eye Experience suite debuted on the selfie-centric Desire EYE and it was already made available via a software update for the HTC One M8. There’s no mention
Unfortunately, LlabTooFeR doesn’t mention anything about the changes brought by the HTC One M8 Android 5.0 update, but, among others, you should expect the Lollipop-specific goodies. The new Android version arrives with a new design philosophy called Material Design that focuses on a more colorful and animated UI and realistic shadows and 3D effects, it brings a refreshed notifications panel, revamped Quick Settings menu, lock screen notifications, dynamic status bar, a new recents menu, battery saver mode, support for 64-bit processors, and Android Runtime (ART).
Monday, 20 October 2014
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