Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has released iOS 15.2.1, its latest software update for recent iPhone and iPad devices. The patch addresses a vulnerability found within the company’s HomeKit protocol for connecting disparate smart home devices. The bug allowed malicious individuals to force an iPhone or iPad to repeatedly crash and freeze by changing the name of a HomeKit-compatible device to include more than 500,000 characters. Since iOS backs up HomeKit device names to iCloud, it was possible for iOS users to get stuck in an endless loop of crashes.

Security researcher Trevor Spiniolas discovered the vulnerability and publicly disclosed it on January 1st. According to Spiniolas, he informed Apple of the bug back in August. The company had reportedly planned to address the vulnerability before the end of 2022 but later delayed a fix to early 2022. “I believe this bug is being handled inappropriately as it poses a serious risk to users and many months have passed without a comprehensive fix,” Spiniolas said at the time.

Spiniolas found that the vulnerability is present within Apple’s mobile operating system as far back as iOS 14.7, but said he believes it exists in all versions of iOS 14. In other words, if you’ve been holding off on installing iOS 15, now is the time to update your Apple devices.

“It is an absolute scandal that in the richest country in the history of the world, high-quality masks are not more readily available,” the Vermont senator said.

Ahead of a planned enterprise release later this year, Magic Leap has provided a group of healthcare companies with early access to its second-generation augmented reality headset. One of the companies, SentiAR, offers software that allows doctors to see a 3D model of a patient’s heart while they’re operating them. Another company, Brainlab, wants to make its Mixed Reality Viewer software available on Magic Leap 2.

That Magic Leap is making its latest wearable available to digital healthcare startups first isn’t surprising; CEO Peggy Johnson said as much would happen last April. “Augmented reality may transform healthcare more than any other industry, at least in the near term,” she said at the time, noting also that the company would focus on enterprise customers at launch.

Magic Leap has famously struggled since its emergence as one of Silicon Valley’s most hyped startups. In 2019, it came out that the company had reportedly only sold 6,000 units of its $2,300 Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset through the first six months that the device was available. It subsequently spent months laying off employees before a $350 million investment gave it a new shot of life.

A lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission claims Meta participated in “anti-competitive conduct” and violated antitrust laws.

Snapchat is ringing in the new year with a bunch of new features. In the coming days, Android and iOS users will be able to reply to individual messages in chats. So, if a group chat is getting a little out of hand, but you want to keep one aspect of the conversation going, Chat Replies will allow you to start a thread by holding your finger on a message and selecting the Reply option.

You’ll soon be able to use Bitmoji reactions in chats. There are seven options to choose from, including thumbs up, thumbs down, a heart, a flame and tears of joy. Again, hold down on a message to add a reaction. Telegram recently added iMessage-style reactions too.

On top of that, Snapchat users can poll friends in snaps and stories. They can respond to your question with an emoji, and you’ll be able to see how everyone voted. You’ll find the option in the sticker folder.

Snapchat says it’s improving the audio and video calling interface too. It should be easier to add lenses and see who has joined a group call before you hop in.