Is your password on this list?

SplashData has released it’s kinda disturbing yet entertaining annual list of the 25 most commonly used passwords for 2014. The data was collected from about 3.3 million passwords in North America and Western Europe. ( So there might be some hope for the rest of the world?)

Hackings have become a highly talked about subject over the past little while, making it kinda silly that the most common password is still – since 2011 – 123456 and – wait for it – password.

It is recommended that you don’t use password for your password. What is recommended is that you use a password with 8 or more characters, including numbers, both lower and uppercase letters and symbols. Yeah, it can be a pain the the you-know-what but it’s important. You can also use a password manager to help you protect your passwords.

So here are the top 25 most common passwords. Is your password on the list? ( Hint – it shouldn’t be)

What we would really like to know is – who is Michael??

Apple earnings call & Apple Watch release update

Tim Cook has had a busy day. But – a pretty good one by all accounts. He had to make the earnings call which covered the first fiscal quarter of 2015. In it, he told financial analysts and investors that not only did Apple sell about 9 million more iPhones than what was expected and forecast, but that they also had reported earnings of $3.06 per share on revenue of $74.6 billion which is way more than anyone was expecting.

According to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters, analysts had actually expected Apple to report earnings of about $2.60 a share on $67.69 billion in revenue.

Yeesh.

The iPad was the only soft note in the earnings call, with sales hitting a quieter 21.4 million units instead of the 22.2 million unit estimate. However, Apple’s cash rose to almost $178 billion, up 15 percent from the prior quarter.

Again – Yeesh.

So – to the best news! Straight from the Sauce, Mr Cook himself –

“Development for Apple Watch is right on schedule, and we expect to begin shipping in April… My expectations are very high on it. I’m using it every day and love it and can’t live without it.”

Bam. Bam. Bam. April. Early April, Apple Watch, tech we apparently can’t live without. Excellent! And with a battery that can be charged just by thinking good thoughts. Right Tim?

Check out the awesome tech that is Microsoft Hololens

Ok Guys, remember how we’re always saying how awesome tech is right now?

SO, YEAH, we’ve got another GEM of an SUPER DOOPER exciting future product to show you. Check this out and try not to smack that guy next to you in excitement.

Whaaaaaaaaaat.

Google Modular Phone

Google has been busy. Well, Google is always busy, but in this context, we’re talking about their vision of bringing a Google Modular smart phones into life.

Modular: involving a module as the basis of design or construction.

Umm… Module: each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure.

So. A phone made from a bunch of individual and independent parts. The idea is that you can buy each part separately, depending on what you want and require out of a smartphone instead of buying a whole phone with functionality you might not want or need.

This would also mean you could replace an individual part when it fails or when an update comes out without needing to replace the whole phone. Pros: cheaper and more customizable. You want two camera’s on your smart phone? Buy two camera modules. Use your phone a lot? buy multiple batteries, replace one and charge it while you’re using the other.

Google have just announced their plans to release a Market pilot version of their modular smart phone, called Project Ara in Puerto Rico later this year.

Exciting.

In true Google PR style, they’ll be using a bunch of food trucks running around Puerto Rico to demo the phones later this year. Because, obviously. 

After they’ve understood how customers are going to react to the amount of choice presented to them by a modular phone, and how successful it is, how they can make it more successful, etc, the idea is that the rest of the world will then be introduced to the Google Modular phone too.

See the video for the Google Project Ara modular smartphone here!

The new Steve Jobs Biopic has begun filming!

The new Steve Jobs film has been in the news of late with buckets of casting rumors and actors dropping out and studio’s dropping out and other studios picking it up and …etc etc.

But! On Friday afternoon the Danny Boyle directed biopic finally began filming!

Exciting!

Film crews set up outside Steve Jobs childhood home in Los Altos after the production crew had transformed the garage into what it would have looked like when Jobs and Steve Wozniak were there, working on the Apple 1 computer in 1976.

The movie is said to cover three important launches of Apple, and filming will occur later in San Jose and Berkeley. Star-spotters unite!

Casting has been confirmed as Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Seth Rogen as Steve Woniak, Kate Winslet as a lead female role and Jeff daniels as former Apple CEO John Sculley. Other cast members includeKatherine Waterston as JOb’s ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan and Michael Stuhlbarg as early Apple Employee Andy Hertzfield.

Check out some photos of the filming over at CNET.

Apple highlights Martin Luther King Day

If you take a wander over to the Apple homepage today, you’ll see that it has been changed to honor Martin Luther King Day, with a full page memorial.  The message on the page reads:

“Today we reflect on the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that continues in service of the broader concerns of humanity.”

Last year CEO Tim Cook explained in an interview that he keeps photos of both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in his office at Apple.

“I had the — just tremendous respect for both of them, and so I do,” he said. “I look at them every day because I think for people — there’s still too many cases in the world and in the United States where there’s a class kind of structure or where voting or people are trying to convince each other that this other group of people don’t deserve the same rights. And I think it’s crazy, I think it’s un-American.”

Mr Cook also tweeted about the importance of honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, with these words:

‘Timeless words from #MLK,  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”’

An important message for us all to remember.

highlights

Apps(s) of the week! Beer Edition!

Beer es gut, ya?

Yeah. Beer’s good. So here’s some Apps to get the most out of your beer imbibing experience.

*Beer App.  This is an App that sends your friends one message. The word Beer, with a question mark. The easiest and best way to invite your friends to join you for a beer.

Beer?

Free from the App Store. 

*Elixer.  A drinking community! Take a photo of your drink, use the optional filters, upload & share it, rate it, discuss it, browse where and what your friends are drinking, discuss that. Also good for making more permanent memories of where you were and what you were doing if you happen to drink a little too much. Free from the App Store. 

*NextGlass.  Kind of like Pandora for your beer-loving taste buds.  Scan the label from within the App, and it will tell you an estimate score of how much you’ll like it based on your previous activity with the App. Then once you rate it from how you actually feel about it, it’ll use that to recommend what you should drink next!

Next Glass has developed a scientific method to choose a drink based on the chemistry behind your taste. Using science and machine-learning you can determine if you like a bottle before you ever taste it. Nifty, eh? It’ll also tell you all the important info about the drink such as calories, carbs and ABV! NIFTIEST!

Free from the App Store. 

*Taphunter.  See what cocktails, specialty spirits and tasty brew are being offered up where and when with this handy app. With a list that includes restaurants, bars and liquor stores, see rankings, menu’s, drink information  and wish lists.

Free from the App Store. 

Happy Weekend! Get some beer in ye.

Deals Of The Week Wednesday!

We got some Deals!

*Grab yourself a Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera with 18-140mm VR Lens for $630 PLUS Free Shipping From Best Buy. Regular Price: $1,399.99. Also get a free Shutterfly 8X8 Photo Book while supplies last. This is a really great deal, so get on it if you can! 

*Get Target Ticket Digital Movie Rentals for Free! Get a $5 credit by entering coupon XBOXRENTAL. Expires on 1/31/2015 and limited to 20,000 redemptions.

*Get the Acesori Four-Piece Smartphone Camera Kit with Three Lenses and Microfiber Cloth for $9.99 from Groupon. 

* Get a Chromecast FOR JUST $29.99 plus you get $20 Google Play Credit right now at Best Buy.

*Get a one-time $25 statement credit by using your enrolled AMEX Card to spend a total of $100 or more online at Staples.com by 2/7/2015!

*Head on over to CowBoom and get 20% off Electronics, gaming & more with Coupon code SAVEMOOLA.  Promo Code cannot be applied to Deal of the Day Item or Best Buy item. Sale ends 11:59 PM CT 01/14. 

*Wanna take awesome pro photos of your creepy dolls? Get an Electric Avenue Deluxe Table Top Photo Studio Bundle for $34.99 from Groupon. 

*Right now at Best Buy you can get a pretty good deal on MacBooks.  Get the MacBook Air 13.3 ” 128GB for $849.99 ($150 off). If you have a .edu email address you can get a further $50 off, and with the Movers Coupon (found in Post Offices), get an ever further 10% off. BLING BLAU!

* Finally, here’s a deal that might help you out of your Verizon contract, if that’s something you’re interested in doing. It might not work, but it would certainly be worth a try. So. Verizon is increasing their administrative fee for all voice lines from $0.88 to $0.95. This apparently constitutes as a material change, since this fee is part of Verizon surcharges (not taxes). This means that you should be able to call Verizon to get out of your contract, without paying the early termination fee.

This has worked for some, not for others, and still others have received some kind of refund for the inconvenience ( $10-40). Give it a go if you’re looking to get out of your contract!

Record week in the App store!

It’s a good time to be an Apple! The company is currently celebrating their recent successes, namely, Apple Pay customer growth, record breaking App store success and high job creation! Yay!

The first week in 2015 set a new record for Apple’s App Store, bringing in almost $500 million. Now that’s a tasty start to the new year. Apple are also celebrating the record breaking year that was 2014 for the App Store, with a 50% increase in billings, and developers earning more than $10 million from revenue.

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.”

So… 2014 was the time to turn that dumb idea that you secretly though was the best most genius thing ever into an App. But… we think it’ll probably work in 2015 too, so go knock that bad boy out of the park!

Apple is also celebrating Apple Pay customer growth, and job creation from the industry surrounding iOS and the App Store. With just over a million jobs created or supported by Apple in the U.S,  a massive 627,000 are related directly to iOS and the App Store.

You can see the full press release here!

Apple Watch release!

When the Apple Watch was announced back in September, all that was said about a release date was ‘early 2015’. Well, it’s early 2015, Apple. You know it, I know it, our company Guinea pig knows it…

But. When a company says a product will be released in ‘early 2015’, that really could mean anything. Even if it turns out to be mid 2015 (unlikely) Apple would be forgiven for their mis-speech, because the anticipation for said new product would be elevated to such a height that when people finally got their hands on it they would forget that they were supposed to be able to have their hands on it months ago.

We probably won’t have to wait that long, however. Here’s what we know about when the Apple Watch may be released.

It’s said that Apple have been trying to perfect a number of small features on the Apple Watch in preparation for release, most importantly the charging mechanism. They want the charge to last on these things, because people and critics are already amping up to call them out over it after the battery didn’t display such great stamina at the announcement.

Developers are already working on iOS  apps that will support Apple Watch and iPhone interaction.

Most rumors have pinpointed March for the release in the first wave of countries. Don’t worry, The U.S.A. is always in the first wave. Wouldn’t that be weird if it wasn’t? Weird and unhappy.

There have been almost-shaped-like concrete rumors that say that retail training for the Apple Watch will begin early February, which would support the March release date rumors. Apparently in the week of February 9th-16th, high level retail store representatives will be sent to main Apple offices (Cupertino for example) to be trained, and will then go back and share their training with their little Apple underlings. Aw. Makes them sound so cute.

So, what kind of holiday is there in March that we can celebrate by getting an Apple Watch as a present…? St Patricks Day? Does it come in Green? Google tells me that March 3rd is I Want To Make You Happy Day. Well, Apple, a nice green Apple Watch that we can wear fancy for St Patricks day,  that’s what’s gonna make us happy.

Thanks in Advance, iPhone Antidote.