Apple Card iPhone financing is here for unlocked iPhones but the fine print says you’ll still need an account with one of the major carriers.
Andrew Orr
Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.
Articles by Andrew Orr
Caltech Wins $1.1B From Apple and Broadcom Over Patent Infringement
Apple and Broadcom are required to pay the California Institute of Technology US$1.1 billion in damages over patent infringement.
EU Wants a Single Data Market to Challenge Big Tech
The European Union introduced a way to challenge the likes of Big Tech by creating a single market for data.
Measures to achieve that goal include an array of new rules covering cross-border data use, data interoperability and standards related to manufacturing, climate change, the auto industry, healthcare, financial services, agriculture and energy.
Other rules in the coming months will open up more public data on geospatial, the environment, meteorology, statistics and companies’ data across the bloc for companies to use for free.
Apple Cancels Xnor.ai Pentagon Contract With Project Maven
Shortly after acquiring AI company Xnor.ai, Apple canceled its contract with Project Maven that would use algorithms to analyze military drone imagery.
Apple Hires Netflix Engineer Ruslan Meshenberg
Apple has hired Netflix engineer Ruslan Meshenberg, an important employee who helped build the platform and made it fast and stable.
117 Emoji Coming This Year, Like a Mammoth, Dodo, Worm, and More
The Unicode Consortium has approved the first group of new emojis for 2020, known as Emoji 13.0. They feature 117 of the fun symbols, including a mammoth, dodo bird, worm, and a lot more.
As with all new emoji releases, the appearance of each emoji varies by platform. Images shown on this page (and tweet thread) are original designs created by Emojipedia in a glossy style to show one potential way these may look when implemented on major platforms such as iOS, Android, WhatsApp, or Twitter.
How the Windows Team Was “Blinded” by the iPad
Former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky wrote a blog post about how his team were caught off guard by the iPad.
The success of iPhone (140K apps & 3B downloads announced that day) blinded us at Microsoft as to where Apple was heading. Endless rumors of Apple’s tablet *obviously* meant a pen computer based on Mac. Why not? The industry chased this for 20 years. That was our context.
It’s a good read. Everyone expected Apple to compete with netbooks. They did, but not by creating their own Mac netbook.
Satirical News Site ‘The Onion’ Comes to Apple Podcasts
The Onion is debuting a daily news podcasts called The Topical is coming to Apple Podcasts and other platforms. No word on whether it will be real news or a comedy podcast.
Leading media experts agree our subservience to the written word has ended, and all future generations will passively absorb information from The Onion’s podcast each day. In fact, an emerging consensus suggests this could be the last sentence you ever have to read if you click below right now to listen to The Topical, thereby freeing yourself from a dying culture’s benighted era of literacy.
Apple Podcasts: The Topical
Rumor: New Apple Products Coming Like Apple Tag, Bluetooth Headphones, iPad Pro, More
Ming-Chi-Kuo’s report concerning how the Coronavirus will affect Apple also included speculations on new Apple products.
Ming-Chi-Kuo Says Coronavirus Threatens Apple
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo says that the Coronavirus is a threat to Apple’s business since much of it is based on China.
iOS 13: How to Use Screen Time as a Privacy Feature
Using Screen Time, Andrew shows you how to block robocalls, disable your microphone and camera, and make the job harder for thieves.
Barnes and Noble Adds Apple Business Chat
Book retailer Barnes and Noble has added Apple Business Chat. This lets Apple customers connect to businesses through iMessage.
Here’s What the ‘Race to 5G’ Really Means
Karl Bode writes about corporations talking about the “race to 5G”, saying that it’s more like a race to bigger profits.
The “race” rhetoric is largely an illusion created by companies eager to do the bare minimum in exchange for as many subsidies, regulatory favors and tax breaks they can grab. This mindless regulatory capture has resulted in a US Telecom sector that routinely ranks in the middle of the pack in every metric that matters. While 5G will be a good thing when deployed at scale, it’s foolish to think the new wireless technical standard will address the deeper rot that plagues the sector.
Apple Releases iOS 13.3.1, macOS Catalina 10.15.3, et al
Apple has released the latest update to its various operating systems: iOS 13.3.1, iPadOS 13.3.1, tvOS 13.3.1, watchOS 6.1.2, and more.
Facebook Hilariously Reminds its Users About ‘Data Privacy Day’
In the next few weeks you might see a reminder in the Facebook to review your privacy settings. That is, what little privacy the company gives you.
The updates represent Facebook burnishing its image to some extent. It spent much of the last decade embroiled in privacy problems that ranged from the Cambridge Analytica scandal through to data exposure on a third-party system. At the same time, it’s safe to say many people want to know their data is being used properly — the prompt and expanded tools could provide a degree of reassurance.
I don’t think it’s possible for Facebook to burnish its image.
UK Payment App Curve Adds Apple Pay Support
Curve is an app that gives you a prepaid Mastercard that you can load on demand, and it just added support for Apple Pay.
Apple Arcade: Outlanders is a Fun Survival Game
Andrew decided to re-subscribe to Apple Arcade and found a survival game called Outlanders, with different levels and missions.
Apple Buys Documentary ‘Boys State’ for $12 Million
Apple and A24 has purchased the rights to Boys State, a documentary from Sundance Festival about the “health of American democracy”.
Amazon’s Ring Surveillance App is Loaded With Trackers
Not only are Ring doorbell cameras used as surveillance, but the app itself too. Like many apps, it’s loaded with third-party trackers and analytics tools. The EFF examined the Android app.
As we’ve mentioned, this includes information about your device and carrier, unique identifiers that allow these companies to track you across apps, real-time interaction data with the app, and information about your home network. In the case of MixPanel, it even includes your name and email address.
FCC Unlocks 3.5GHz Spectrum ‘OnGo’ Band that iPhones 11 Can Use
After six years of collaboration the FCC has unlocked 3.5GHz spectrum, called the ‘OnGo’ band, for consumers.
CarPlay Comes to Fiat Chrysler Vehicles With UConnect 5
Apple’s CarPlay system is coming to all Fiat Chrysler vehicles thanks to Android system UConnect 5.
Leaked Documents Reveal Antivirus Surveillance Industry
Leaked documents reveal that an Avast antivirus subsidiary called Jumpshot packages what you do on your computer and sells it to companies like Google, Microsoft, Pepsi, and more.
The data obtained by Motherboard and PCMag includes Google searches, lookups of locations and GPS coordinates on Google Maps, people visiting companies’ LinkedIn pages, particular YouTube videos, and people visiting porn websites. It is possible to determine from the collected data what date and time the anonymized user visited YouPorn and PornHub, and in some cases what search term they entered into the porn site and which specific video they watched.
I write a lot about privacy and security, and I try hard to be optimistic that eventually things will change and some day we will have a federal privacy law.
Apple Partners With Microsoft on Patient Access to Health Data
Apple and Microsoft are sending representatives to a meeting hosted by the Carin Alliance to support its effort to make access to health data easier for patients.
iPads Can’t Kill Laptops But They are a Viable Alternative
It’s the tenth anniversary of the iPad. Steve Jobs introduced the device on January 27, 2010. Nathan Ingraham writes about the iPad but insists Apple is still trying to kill laptops. But I think he disproves his own point when he shares what Mr. Jobs said:
Shortly after the iPad launch, Jobs nailed his famous metaphor, comparing iPads to cars and traditional laptops and PCs to trucks, saying he believed that for most people, a car met all their needs. That clearly has not come to pass for a majority of computer users, but that doesn’t mean Jobs was wrong.
The metaphor is correct. Apple isn’t trying to kill laptops, they’re saying that for many people iPads are a good alternative. Alternative, not replacement.