Tech News 2Night 181 (Transcript)

[Top TN2 Animation ] Tonight! Apple lets HealthKit apps back into the App Store, more trouble for ride-sharing companies, and why the new social network Ello is being called the anti-Facebook Tech News 2Night is Next! [TWiT Open] [Main TN2 Open] This is Tech News 2Night Episode #181, for Friday September 26, 2014 Enhance your work flow- send files of almost any size easily and securely with Citrix ShareFile. Try ShareFile today! For a 30 Day Free Trial, go to ShareFile.com, click the microphone and enter TN2! I'm Sarah Lane, Let's get right to the Tech Feed! Google may start putting pressure on its partners to put its own apps and services at the forefront of most Android phones. Amir Efrati at The Information says he's obtained confidential documents the show Google wants its partners to place more of its apps on Android phones and feature them in more prominent places. Part of this is to increase consistency in the Android experience across devices, but may spell trouble for a company like Samsung, which offers its own touchwiz software to its Android devices. As part of the updated contract, Google is also requiring one of its partners to increase the number of Google-made apps from nine in 2011 to 20 in 2014. And manufacturers may not have much of a choice - Android currently holds an overwhelming 85% of the global smartphone market as of July 2014, according to Strategy Analytics. / After an iOS 8 HealthKit flaw forced Apple to pull 3rd party HealthKit apps from the App Store, the company is finally letting them back in. One of the first apps to show up is FitPort, which acts as a replacement dashboard for Health information, with all data being synced back into the Health database. HealthKit apps were originally supposed to return to the store with iOS 8.0.1, but after that update disabled cellular and touched access for many iPhone 6 users, apple had to pull the update less than two hours after It was released. Now that 8.0.2 is out, Apple appears ready - finally - to give App Store customers access to HealthKit. But man, what a mess. According to Apple, less than 40,000 iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices were affected by the iOS 8.0.1 bugs, but the company issued an apology alongside the release of iOS 8.0.2 for those affected. Yesterday on TN2 our guest Steve Gibson explained how the exploit Shellshock works, by accessing a UNIX command shell and language included in many different device operating systems, including Apple's OS X. Apple now says it's aware of the exploit, and is working quickly to provide a software update. However, the company tells iMore that "The vast majority of OS X users are not at risk to recently reported bash vulnerabilities. With OS X, systems are safe by default and not exposed to remote exploits of bash unless users configure advanced UNIX services." However, Shellshocked is still a big deal, as it reportedly affects most Linux- and Unix-based operating systems around the world, making millions of computers and embedded devices vulnerable and required to be updated as soon as possible. / Blackberry CEO John Chen has announced the company has taken 200,000 orders of its new Passport handset since its launch on Wednesday. Chen says the Passport sold out in six hours on Blackberry's website, and sold out in 10 hours on Amazon. AT&T has confirmed that it would sell the Passport, but hasn't provided a price or date of availability. The smartphone's unlocked version goes for $599 in the US. Blackberry provided a small initial order which contributed to the quick sell outs, but Chen says a larger order will come next Wednesday. BlackBerry also reported a smaller quarterly loss today than recent quarters, which could point to the company turning things around. Blackberry reported a net loss of $207 million, or 39 cents per share, for the second quarter ending Aug. 30th, smaller than compared with a year-earlier loss of $965 million, or $1.84 per share. / More legal trouble for ride-share companies Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar - all three received letters from The San Francisco and Los Angeles district attorneys, claiming they're operating illegally and need to make major changes The two district attorney offices conducted a joint investigation into the companies and found a number of practices they say violate California law and represent “a continuing threat to consumers and the public.” Specifically, Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar are all accused of misleading customers by falsely claiming their background checks of drivers screen out anyone who has committed a variety of criminal offenses. The district attorneys also told all three companies that their new shared ride service fares are calculated in a way that violates state law..The companies have been asked to respond to the letters by Monday and meet with representatives of the district attorney’s office by Oct. 8. If not, the prosecutors are prepared to file legal actions seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties. / Earlier today, Reuters reported that Yahoo is exploring a strategic combination with AOL. It appears the root of this story stems from a letter from Yahoo activist investor Jeffrey Smith of Starboard to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, urging her to combine Yahoo's business with AOL's. He also wants her to sell Yahoo's stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, cut costs by $250 million to $500 million per year, and stop acquiring startups that don't add to revenues. According to the letter, published by Business Insider, Smith thinks the combined companies could cut $1 billion worth of costs. / Coming up, where is now legal to make cellphone calls on airplanes... And next I'll chat with Jordan Novet from VentureBeat about Ello, the new social network that is ad-free and getting more and more popular. 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You’ll see why millions of professionals rely on it everyday [[Call to Action (Verbatim)]] Get started TODAY with my special 30-day FREE trial Go to ShareFile.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and enter TN2 That’s ShareFile.com and type in TN2!" [Segment #2] Jordan Novet Staff Writer, VentureBeat "Ello, it’s been called the anti Facebook. What is it? What about their manifesto? They make a big deal about it. Right now it is invite only, how does it work? Who started it and why? Why is it getting so much traction? They have come out against ads, how will Ello make money? What’s their long-term plan? ## Thanks--Jordan Novet Staff Writer, VentureBeat" [Kicker!] Frequent flyers, I've got some good/bad news, depending on how much you like peace and quiet. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued new guidance to European airlines allowing passengers to keep phones and other portable electronic devices switched on throughout flights, regardless of whether the devices are in "airplane mode." Each carrier still has to go through an assessment process to make sure aircraft aren't affected by transmissions coming from devices. Under EASA's new policy, airline crews still have the authority to tell passengers to switch devices off, and of course there's the issue that passengers flying at 35,000 feet can't really connect to cell towers on the ground, so airlines will have to provide in-flight telecoms services if they want. [good bye] That's it for this edition of Tech News 2Night. Subscribe to this show at Twit.tv/tn2, and write us at tn2@twit.tv Don't miss our morning news program, Tech News Today, every weekday at 10am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. I'm Sarah Lane, thanks for watching.