Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 12/24-12/30

Apple starts enabling worldwide discounts on iPhone battery replacements

OnePlus 5 to get the 5T’s facial unlock feature

Face ID doesn’t seem to work for approving family purchases on the iPhone X

Lenovo’s standalone Daydream VR headset passes through the FCC

This is what it looks like to watch ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ in space

Edward Snowden’s Haven app turns any Android smartphone into a remote security camera

Android 8.0 Oreo is now rolling out to the LG V30 in Korea

Snapchat might be bringing Stories to the web

WhatsApp to end support for BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone by the end of the year

Samsung rumoured to release Galaxy S9 at the start of March 2018

Apple issues apology for performance throttling, offers discounted battery replacement service throughout 2018

LastPass remedies fingerprint security flaw in Authenticator app on Android

Instagram will start showing recommended posts on your feed

Google quietly retires Pixel C tablet

Samsung set to launch new Exynos chip on January 4

Forever 21 confirms hackers breached their payment system

Forever 21 confirms hackers breached their payment system

Bad news for you Forever 21 shoppers in the US. The retailer just confirmed that hackers have breached “various point of sales terminals” throughout the country and were able to collect “credit card numbers, expiration dates, verification codes and sometimes cardholder names” covering the dates April 3 to November 18, 2017. Forever 21 detailed in a statement how hackers were able to install malware software on some of its POS terminals. They first disclosed this back in November 14, but this is the first time they’ve gone into detail about how the attack went down.

It seems that the encryption was turned off for some machines that logged payment card details from transactions at certain times and this was when the hackers installed malware to get the data. Some were said to be affected for days or weeks, but others could’ve been affected for the duration they stated. They didn’t specify how much information the hackers got. But they did say they’re looking into whether Forever 21 stores outside the US have been affected. But with those using different POS systems, this might be an unlikely scenario. Now is the time though to remind you to always check your credit card transactions to see if there are any purchases you didn’t make.

OnePlus launches app to help migrate data to a new device

While Google has baked in its own device backup/restore tool into Google Play Services, OnePlus is offering its own migration tool with the new OnePlus Switch app. The app can help you migrate contacts, SMS messages, call logs, calendars, photos, videos, audio, and apps (but no app data). It can work on any Android device that runs Lollipop 5.0 and higher. The app is currently in beta, but OnePlus says a stable version is expected to arrive mid-January. 

Source: Android Police

Apple starts enabling worldwide discounts on iPhone battery replacements

Further to an earlier announcement regarding discounted iPhone battery replacement services for customers of older iPhones who may be experiencing performance slowdowns, Apple has enabled the discounted replacement service globally starting today.

Canadians who bring their older iPhones for a battery replacement to Apple Retail stores will be able to benefit from the reduced fee. 

"Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $64 — from $99 to $35 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com/ca," Apple said in an official statement earlier today. The initial timeframe for the discounted battery replacement was supposed to be in January 2018.

"We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away. Initial supplies of some replacement batteries may be limited," an Apple spokesperson clarified.