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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Google Hit With $1.69 billion EU Anti-Trust Fine Over Adsense Restrictions

LONDON – Google was hit by its third anti-trust fine from EU regulators Wednesday. EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said the company had stifled competition in the online advertising market and had to pay €1.49 billion ($1.69 billion), CNBC reported. Google’s rivals had claimed that the company placed Adsense ads on websites on the proviso that other advertising systems were not present not the same page.

Google’s Adsense pushes ads triggered by search engines embedded websites. Rival firms to Google had claimed the product was placed on websites with the understanding that no other systems could be on the same page. The Alphabet company has previously defended its use of the technology, claiming it has been in place since 2006, is now superseded, and is a minor product. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Google’s core advertising business saw revenue increase 20 percent from the previous quarter to $32.6 billion — the same rate of growth as the last quarter.

Pandora Now Lets Users Pick the Algorithm That Selects Their Music

Pandora is now letting users select which algorithm their music is picked by. The music streaming service added 5 choices on top of its classic algorithm, The Verge reported. The new options, called Pandora Modes, are available to both free and premium account holders.

There are now 6 listening modes: My Station, which is Pandora’s original algorithm; Crowd Faves, which will favor the songs that get the most thumbs-ups by other users in that station; Deep Cuts, which will serve up lesser-known songs by an artist or in a genre; Discovery, which will play more artists that aren’t usually on that station; Newly Released, which will only pick the newest songs from an artist or in a genre; and Artist Only, which will let you binge entirely on a single artist’s catalog.

Bandersnatch-Ing Data from Interactive Netflix Show

Bandersnatch, the interactive Black Mirror movie on Netflix, was something of a hit. Viewers could pick the narrative path they went down. However, the Register reported on research that showed the data about choices could be snooped on using network packet analysis. Indeed, the scientists behind the research claims that they successfully determined what choice users made 96% of the time.

When viewers watching the video choose one of the two narrative paths at various branch points in the story, that information gets sent back to Netflix to display the appropriate video segment. And it turns out to be possible to discern which branch each viewer took through network packet analysis. In a paper just released through pre-print service ArXiv, “White Mirror: Leaking Sensitive Information from Interactive Netflix Movies using Encrypted Traffic Analysis,” a handful of the institute’s computer scientists show that story choices – sent from the viewer’s browser to Netflix via a JSON file – can be inferred despite the encryption of network traffic.

Time for Apple to Acknowledge Flexgate

The Flexgate issue – whereby the ribbon cable that connects the body of some MacBook Pros to their display wears down too quickly, was revealed in January 2019 by iFixit. It seems to be a design flaw. These things happen. However, there has been frustration among users at Apple’s reaction. On The Verge, Vlad Savov said it is time for the company to acknowledge and deal with the issue.

A petition, now numbering more than 15,000, would beg to differ. It calls for Apple to publicly recognize Flexgate as a design flaw, and to commit to repair all MacBook Pro laptops affected by it. I think that’s exactly what Apple should do, and it’s no less than we should expect from a company that touts its reliability and user satisfaction numbers any chance it gets. No one should have to pay upwards of $500 to replace an entire display just because Apple (a) decided to affix a fragile cable to one of the most expensive components in its MacBook Pro, and (b) miscalculated the necessary length of that cable in its first design.

Angry Birds AR Coming to iOS

The Angry Birds are back, and this time they are in augmented reality. The user sees the view from behind the slingshot, as Chuck, Red, and friends are placed in the player’s surroundings. The trailer shows them popping pigs on restaurant table. Think Pokemon Go, but with birds being fired around instead. Rovio, the firm behind the Angry Birds brand, partnered with Resolution to create the latest iteration (via Techcrunch). Angry Birds – Isle of Pigs is going to launch initially on iOS only. The birds will fly-in this spring.

Apple Set to Roll Out Red Carpet for Hollywood Stars at March 25 Event

LONDON- Apple’s March 25th “It’s Showtime” event looks like it is going to be a bit different from normal tech-company shows. The Times of London reported that Hollywood A-Listers like Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah Winfrey, who is producing a show for Apple, could attend. It is just another element of the firm’s battle for streaming supremacy with the likes of Netflix.

The iPhone maker is ramping up the star power to support its long-awaited push into the entertainment business. For nearly two years Apple executives have been signing up the cream of Tinseltown on lucrative contracts for its on-demand TV and movie service. Next Monday, Apple will explain how it plans to dethrone Netflix and Amazon, the largest players in paid-for video streaming. It may also unveil a subscription news and magazine service, sources said.

What it is Like When a Massive Accidental Data Breach is Your Responsibility

In June 2018, Steve Hardigree awoke to find that his marketing firm, Exactis, was at the centre of a massive data leak. In fact, his company had accidentally exposed the personal records of almost everyone in the U.S. Mr. Hardigree spoke to Wired, who broke the news originally, about what is was like to be at the center of data scandal.

The ordeal has been a grueling lesson for Hardigree, who says that he’s learned the hard way how much even a tiny firm like his has to prioritize security. “Be careful with your data, and be careful with the people who manage your data,” Hardigree says. “I hired some guys that were careless. But at the end of the day it’s the CEO who’s responsible. I take responsibility.”

Large Apple Watch Survey Shows Device Does Detect Irregular Heart Beats

There have been a number of amazing stories about how an Apple Watch alerted users to a heart condition, saving their life. Results from a large Apple-funded study, presented Saturday at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, backed-up the company’s healthcare claims. Reuters reported that the study found that 84% of irregular heart pulse notifications sent by the Apple Watch were confirmed as episodes of atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, 57% of participants who received such an alert on went and sought medical attention.

Of the 400,000 participants, 0.5 percent, or about 2,000 subjects, received notifications of an irregular pulse. Those people were sent an ECG (electrocardiography) patch to wear for subsequent detection of atrial fibrillation episodes. A third of those whose watches detected an irregular pulse were confirmed to have atrial fibrillation using the ECG technology, researchers said. Some 84 percent of the irregular pulse notifications were later confirmed to have been AF episodes, data showed.

Facebook and YouTube Remove Footage of New Zealand Mosque Terror Attacks

Both Facebook and YouTube moved to delete footage of the terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, that resulted in the deaths of 49 Muslim worshipers in 2 mosques on Friday. Parts of the attack were live-streamed over the two platforms. CNET reported that Facebook had removed unverified footage and praise for the shooting. YouTube made a similar commitment in a tweet from its official twitter account.

Facebook told CNET it had removed the unverified footage and was also pulling down “praise or support” posts for the shootings. “New Zealand Police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the livestream commenced and we removed both the shooter’s Facebook account and the video,” said Mia Garlick, a Facebook representative in New Zealand. “We’re also removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware. We will continue working directly with New Zealand Police as their response and investigation continues.

New Tesla Model Y Unveiled

Tesla unveiled its latest vehicle Friday, the Model Y. The Verge reported that CEO Elon Musk bragged that despite being SUV-like, the vehicle “will ride like a sports car.” It will be available in the fall of 2020, with prices starting at $47,000.

“It has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car,” Musk said. “So this thing will be really tight on corners.” The $47,000 long range Model Y will come first in the fall of 2020, and will have a range of 300 miles, Musk said. Tesla will also sell an all-wheel-drive dual motor version for $51,000, and a performance version for $60,000— both of which will also be available in fall 2020. The cheaper, standard range version with a range of 230 miles won’t be available until 2021, Musk said, and will sell for $39,000.

How Teens Turned Google Docs into the Must Have Messaging App

The days of bored teenagers passing notes around a classroom are long gone. However, it is not the likes of Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok that they now use to plot, gossip and flirt during class. According to The Atlantic, teens have turned Google Docs into the place to talk. The service is often used in the classroom and has a live chat function – quite a dangerous combination!

“We don’t really pass physical notes anymore,” said Skyler, 15, who, like all the other students in this story, is identified by a pseudonym. As more and more laptops find their way into middle and high schools, educators are using Google Docs to do collaborative exercises and help students follow along with the lesson plan. The students, however, are using it to organize running conversations behind teachers’ backs.

iPhone Crushed for Science

LONDON – For most people, having their iPhone crushed is the ultimate nightmare. Not for scientists at the University of Plymouth, Cult of Mac reported. The UK university put an iPhone into a high-powered blender to discover what chemical elements a handset is made up of. There’s a video too, if does cause you too much pain to watch.

The video does a good job of breaking down the precise quantities of elements which go into a smartphone. Where it gets particularly interesting, however, is looking at this figure in the context of the 1.4 billion mobile phones produced each year, Among other astonishing figures, that includes 52 tons of gold, 131 tons of silver, and a mind-boggling 10.2 kilotons of chromium. Unfortunately, a large number of these handsets are made using conflict minerals from various parts of the world.

Apple Suppliers Reportedly Gearing up For Next Generation of iPads and AirPods

Apple’s suppliers in Tawain are preparing to produce new iPads and AirPods. DigitTimes reported that Flexium Interconnect and Zhen Ding Technology are getting ready to mass produce the next generation of the devices. Those sources said that the new iPads and AirPods will also be unveiled art Apple’s March 25th event. It is though expected  that even will largely focus on services,

Flexible PCB firms Flexium Interconnect and Zhen Ding Technology are gearing up for mass production for Apple’s next-generation iPad devices, while Compeq Manufacturing and Unitech PCB supply rigid-flex boards for the forthcoming AirPods, according to industry sources….Both Zhen Ding and Flexium may see their shipments for Apple’s upcoming iPad models offset a slowdown in shipments for the iPhones in the first half of 2019, the sources noted. Meanwhile, the availability of Apple’s long-awaited AirPods 2 is seen as a boost to revenues at both Compeq and Unitech during the six-month period, the sources continued.