Author: Jordan Golson

Construction at Apple’s Spaceship campus continues, with the circular building beginning to take shape according to an image posted to Twitter by KCBS news and traffic reporter Ron Cervi (via 9to5Mac).

In the most recent shot, a wall has been built around the perimeter of the building, outlining where the foundation will be poured. A different tweet by @DawnMortensen notes that Pruneridge Avenue, a road that runs through the campus itself, has been permanently closed.

Street-level photographs back in December revealed several buildings still standing, but another aerial photo from February suggested a large portion of the demolition work had been completed. During construction, Apple has closed off sidewalks and built a large green privacy fence to keep the area hidden.

Progress on #ApplesNewHQ, a small wall around the foundation of the spaceship has sprouted. #sky1hightechtour pic.twitter.com/iM3JrIQUBH

— Ron (@Sky1Ron) June 10, 2014

Cervi has been posting a number of images of the campus over the past few months, tracking the progress of construction. Campus 2 is expected to open in 2016.

Apple, Google, HTC, Huawei, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia and Samsung have announced a voluntary agreement to include anti-theft technology on all smartphones beginning next year, according to a report by Re/code.

The pledge has device makers agreeing that all devices going on sale after July of 2015 will have capabilities to remotely wipe data and to prevent the device from being reactivated without the owner’s permission.

A number of state and local lawmakers praised the agreement, though it was panned as inadequate by California state Sen. Mark Leno, who has proposed a mandatory kill-switch law.

“The wireless industry today has taken an incremental yet inadequate step to address the epidemic of smartphone theft,” Leno said in a statement. “Only weeks ago, they claimed that the approach they are taking today was infeasible and counterproductive. While I am encouraged they are moving off of that position so quickly, today’s ‘opt-in’ proposal misses the mark if the ultimate goal is to combat street crime and violent thefts involving smartphones and tablets.”

The senator pointed out that all smartphones must have similar kill switch features, or violent street crime and thefts will continue to occur as at least some of the device thefts will still be profitable.

A federal bill introduced earlier this year would mandate the inclusion of such a smartphone “kill switch” after California introduced a similar bill.

It is likely that Apple’s Activation Lock, introduced alongside iOS 7, satisfies the requirements of the agreement already. Activation Lock effectively disables a stolen smartphone by preventing it from being wiped and reactivated without an Apple ID and password. Apple’s Find My iPhone also allows for devices to be remotely wiped and locked.

The latest expansion pack to BioShock Infinite has launched simultaneously on the Mac and PC. Burial at Sea – Episode 2 is the third and final add-on pack for BioShock Infinite and is included in the season pass for that game.

It is available on the Mac for $15 on Steam and Aspyr’s GameAgent.com store, and will be added to the Mac App Store later this week. BioShock Infinite ($30) is required to play the expansion packs, with the three-episode season pass available for $20.

Set immediately after the conclusion of BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode One, this concluding episode puts you in the role of Elizabeth as she journeys through Rapture in an effort to rescue the little sister she abandoned. Developed by Irrational Games, the studio behind the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite, this continuation of the Burial at Sea saga features parts of Rapture you’ve never seen before, built almost entirely from scratch in the BioShock Infinite engine. Explore the city and engage in a story that involves nearly every major character from the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite. Experience modified stealth-oriented gameplay that brings you new weapons and plasmids, as well as some old favorites.

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode Two is the last of three BioShock Infinite add-on packs and it concludes the storyline of BioShock Infinite and Burial at Sea. This pack is included in the BioShock Infinite Season Pass and will contain new Achievements.

BioShock Infinite, its related expansion packs, and BioShock 1 and 2 are available on Steam, GameAgent.com and the Mac App Store.

Apple has updated the iTunes Connect portal that developers use to track and manage App Store apps. The site has a new Sales and Trends section that allows developers to track sales across certain time periods, sales groups, and more, as well as estima…

Back in December, it was reported that Sprint — the U.S.’s third-largest cell carrier — was preparing a bid to acquire T-Mobile, the country’s fourth-largest carrier. The deal, depending on the stake Sprint attempts to buy, could be worth more than $20 billion.

Recently, a pair of Sprint board members met with the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss a possible acquisition, reports The Wall Street Journal. The report says the DoJ has concerns over a potential deal.

The conversation, which occurred in January, signals the seriousness of Mr. Son’s interest in a deal, but also underscores his highest hurdle. U.S. antitrust authorities believe the current lineup of four national carriers is important to maintaining a competitive market, and department officials indicated at the meeting that a deal combining Sprint and T-Mobile could face regulatory difficulties, the people said

According to the WSJ, Sprint has lined up roughly $31 billion in potential financing and the company is not deterred from pursuing an acquisition.

Japanese carrier Softbank purchased a 70 percent controlling interest in Sprint back in 2012 for roughly $20 billion. T-Mobile is majority owned by German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom.

Previously, AT&T attempted to acquire T-Mobile but government intervention prevented the deal from concluding. Since then, the companies have had a growing feud as they launch ever escalating marketing efforts in an attempt to poach each other’s customers.

Last October, Apple angered a lot of iWork power users when it introduced new versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

The new versions were rewritten from the ground up for improved usability and cross-platform compatibility across OS X, iOS and iWork in iCloud, but, as a result, some power user features didn’t make it into the machine at release.

Apple promised to restore the lost features and last week’s iWork update is the first step in restoring those features.

As Macworld notes, Numbers has gained significant AppleScript support, almost fully backwards compatible with previously created scripts for Numbers 2009. The iWork team has also added a number of new scripting features. It seems likely that scripting support will be added to Pages and Keynote in a future update.

The latest update of Numbers reintroduces AppleScript support in a big way. While Apple could have taken an iterative approach, reintroducing a few commands here and there, it chose instead to go whole-hog: The entire suite of scripting terminology originally supported by Numbers in the 2009 edition of iWork has returned.

This means that, if you have Numbers scripts you used with that 2009 version, most of them should (in theory) now work with Numbers 3.1; those scripts may require tweaks, though, because some features of Numbers itself have changed.

Users with feedback for Apple regarding the iWork apps, including complaints about missing features or suggestions would be well-served to give Apple feedback on its website. With these changes to Numbers, Apple does appear to listen to its users.

Numbers is a $19.99 download from the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]

GT Advanced, Apple’s manufacturing partner for its new sapphire glass plant in Mesa, Arizona, has sent a postcard to local residents advertising for open positions at its new facility. A MacRumors reader who lives in Mesa sent us the postcard he receiv…

Amazon is considering the launch of a live subscription-based online television service, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The service would include live television channels from major providers, with Amazon approaching at least three m…

Last year, Apple executive Phil Schiller tweeted a link to a research report that noted significant growth in mobile malware, particularly on Android. The report found that Android accounted for 79 percent of mobile threats, with just 0.7 percent attacking iOS.

Today, Schiller followed up, tweeting a link to Cisco’s 2014 Annual Security Report. The report, which came out late last week, notes that while overall vulnerabilities are highest since tracking began in 2000, 99 percent of all mobile malware targeted Android devices — leaving iOS devices relatively unscathed thanks to Apple’s controlling mobile ecosystem.

The report does note that many mobile users encounter phishing or other social engineering websites, something that Apple’s security protocols won’t necessarily protect users from.

Not all mobile malware is designed to target specific devices, however. Many encounters involve phishing, likejacking, or other social engineering ruses, or forcible redirects to websites other than expected. An analysis of user agents by Cisco TRAC/SIO reveals that Android users, at 71 percent, have the highest encounter rates with all forms of web-delivered malware, followed by Apple iPhone users with 14 percent of all web malware encounters.

Cisco 2014 Security Report http://t.co/rd6M6yUXnU

— Philip Schiller (@pschiller) January 21, 2014

Other than that specific mention of social engineering — and that spam messages mention Apple Gift Cards — the Cisco report does not mention Apple or the Mac or iOS at all. The tweet is likely part of a larger push by Apple to share more favorable third-party reports about the company and its products.

With Apple’s newest flagship retail store set to open on Friday in Brisbane, Australia, the first photos of the impressive MacArthur Chambers location are beginning to emerge. These photos were sent to us by MacRumors reader Phillip and show the nearly…

Apple has received a patent — originally filed for in 2007, when the original iPhone was only months old — that allows an iOS device to adjust its screen to make it easier for users to interact with the touchscreen when it detects movement (via Apple…

Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter of the movie based on Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography, has completed his screenplay and submitted it to Sony, according to Variety. Sorkin — who is well known for his work on The West Wing and The Social Network, was …

Popular iOS racing game Real Racing 3 has been updated with a real-time online multiplayer mode through Game Center, a significant update for the game. EA has also added a pair of new super cars, the McLaren P1 and the Lamborghini Veneno. Our sister-s…

Apple has added the ability to gift ebooks to friends and family through the iBookstore, reports Macworld. Users have long been able to purchase songs, movies or TV shows through iTunes, as well as standard gift cards, but the ability to gift a particu…

Samsung has hired Tim Gudgel, a senior Apple Retail Store designer and five-year veteran of the company, reports The Information. Gudgel, who has worked for Apple since March of 2008 according to his LinkedIn page, previously worked for Novartis, and a…

FireCore — the company behind the Apple TV jailbreak apps aTV Flash and Seas0nPass — has released a new version of Infuse, its iOS video playing app. The update adds a new iOS 7-inspired interface, as well as network streaming support, and more. The …