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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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Articles by Charlotte Henry

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HBO Max Harry Potter Series in Early Development

Charlotte Henry ·

A live-action Harry Potter series for HBO Max is apparently in the works. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that such a project is though in the very early stages of development.

While it’s news that executives at HBO Max and Warners are engaged in meetings to find a writer and pitch for a Harry Potter TV series, no writers or talent are currently attached as the conversations are still in the extremely early stages and no deals have been made. “There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform,” HBO Max and Warner Bros. reaffirmed in a statement to THR. Expanding the world of Harry Potter remains a top priority for HBO Max and Warner Bros., which along with creator J.K. Rowling, controls rights to the property. Harry Potter is one of Warners’ most valuable pieces of IP. (It’s also worth pointing out that while Harry Potter remains a beloved franchise, Rowling sparked backlash from the trans community after saying that transgender individuals should be defined by their biological sex.)

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Elon Musk's SpaceX Launches 133 Spacecraft in Single Day

Charlotte Henry ·

SpaceX launched the most spacecraft in a single day on Sunday, Reuters reported. Elon Musk’s company sent 133 into space on one of its reusable rockets.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10 a.m. EST from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It flew south along the eastern coast of Florida on its way to space, the company said. The reusable rocket ferried 133 commercial and government spacecraft and 10 Starlink satellites to space – part of the company’s SmallSat Rideshare Program, which provides access to space for small satellite operators seeking a reliable, affordable ride to orbit, according to the company. SpaceX delayed the launch one day because of unfavorable weather. On Jan. 22 Musk, also chief executive of Tesla Inc., wrote on Twitter: “Launching many small satellites for a wide range of customers tomorrow. Excited about offering low-cost access to orbit for small companies!”

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Developer Complains to EU After Apple And Google Reject Game Encouraging COVID-19 Rule Compliance

Charlotte Henry ·

A German developer has complained to EU antitrust authorities after Google and Apple rejected his game from the App Store and Play Store, Reuters reported. The game was designed to encourage compliance with COVID-19 rules issued by governments.

Mueller says the app rules set by the two U.S. tech giants are holding back innovation, in breach of EU regulation, after both companies rejected his Corona Control Game app in November. Google and Apple rules say COVID-19 related apps must be government approved in order to avoid promoting conflicting or incorrect health advice. Google told Reuters in response to Mueller’s complaint that it only approves apps that reference COVID-19 or related terms if they are published, commissioned, or authorized by an official government entity or public health organization. Apple had no immediate comment but referred to guidelines issued in March which say entertainment or game apps with COVID-19 as their theme will not be allowed.

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LG's UltraFine 4K Display Not Listed in Apple Stores in Europe

Charlotte Henry ·

LG’s UltraFine 4K is not available in Apple Stores online across Europe, MacRumors reported. The Mac Observer took a look at found that indeed in some countries, like the UK, the 5K model is available. However, in others, nothing is listed.

This isn’t the first time LG’s UltraFine Displays have been unavailable to order on Apple’s online stores in some parts of the world. However, on previous occasions, the displays were out of stockand eventually replenished, and at no time were the listings removed. That they have been this time round could suggest that one or both are set to be discontinued. Introduced in May 2019, the UltraFine 4K features a 23.7-inch display with a 3,840 x 2,160 pixels resolution, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, three downstream USB-C ports, up to 500 nits brightness, P3 wide color gamut support, and built-in stereo speakers. The display is priced at $699.95 on Apple’s online store in the United States.

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Save us From a Portless iPhone

Charlotte Henry ·

Rumors are swirling that future iPhones may not have any ports. Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac explains why a portless iPhone would be a horrible idea.

First off, there’s iPhone recovery. If something goes seriously wrong with your iOS handset, the cure is to hook it to a Mac or PC and use recovery mode. The need for this is rare, but occasionally crops up when operating system updates go horribly wrong. Without a Lightning port, this is impossible. The only option would be to send the iPhone to Apple or an authorized repair tech. A minor hassle suddenly becomes a major one. Next, even assuming the future portless iPhone comes with MagSafe, wireless charging will still be slower than wired. And the handset itself will cost more to make because Apple will (probably) put a MagSafe charger in the box. And they’ll cost users extra because most people will want to buy extras to have additional chargers at work, in the car, etc. Plus, you can say goodbye to some great accessories…

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How, and Why, Laurene Powell Jobs Became a Force in U.S. Media

Charlotte Henry ·

In recent years Laurene Powell Jobs has become a major presence in U.S. media, investing millions. The Colombia Journalism Review has a really good profile of Steve Jobs’s widow and looks at what her Emerson Collective is trying to achieve.

The organization started small; in the early years, it was focused primarily on advocacy work in education, climate, immigration, and gun violence prevention. Powell Jobs gave money to a handful of nonprofit newsrooms engaged with those subjects, such as Chalkbeat. She also invested in Ozy Media, a millennial news site cofounded by a friend of hers. But it was not until 2016, around the time of McGray and Edwards’s visit to Palo Alto, that Emerson started a major expansion that included, for the first time, a determined focus on media. In the years since, Emerson’s media investments have grown quickly in scale. Through Emerson, Powell Jobs has acquired equity in a number of Hollywood production companies, including a controlling share of Anonymous Content, which helped create Mr. Robot, Spotlight, and George Clooney’s Midnight Sky. Since 2015, according to a person familiar with Emerson’s finances, she has spent roughly a quarter of a billion dollars on journalism

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YouTube Hashtag Landing Pages Now Available to All Users

Charlotte Henry ·

YouTube made hashtag landing pages available to all users on Tuesday, Techcrunch reported. Although these operate differently from how they do on other social networks, they still provide another way for users to find content, and creators to get eyeballs.

Going forward, when you click on a hashtag on YouTube, you’ll be taken to a dedicated landing page that contains only videos that are using the hashtag. This page is also sorted to keep the “best” videos at the top, YouTube claimed. The ranking algorithm, however, may need some work as it’s currently surfacing an odd mix of both newer and older videos and seems to be heavily dominated by Indian creator content, in several top categories. The result, then, is not the equivalent to something like a hashtag search on a social network like Facebook or Twitter, for example, where more recent content gets top billing. For that reason, it may be difficult to use these hashtag landing pages for discovery of new videos to watch, as intended, but could still serve as an interesting research tool for creators looking to better leverage the hashtag format.

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EU Fines Valve And Five Other PC Games Publishers

Charlotte Henry ·

The European Union Commission issued fines totalling €7.8 million ($9.4 million) to Valve and five other games publishers on Wednesday, Techrunch reported. It followed a lengthy investigation that found that firm’s had broken the bloc’s rules.

The geo-blocking practices investigated since before 2017 concerned around 100 PC video games of different genres, including sports, simulation and action games. In addition to Valve — which has been fined just over €1.6 million — the five sanctioned games publishers are: Bandai Namco (fined €340,000), Capcom (€396,000), Focus Home (€2.8 million), Koch Media (€977,000) and ZeniMax (€1.6 million). The Commission said the fines were reduced by between 10% and 15% owing to cooperation from the companies, with the exception of Valve, which it said chose not to cooperate (a “prohibition Decision” rather than a fine reduction was applied in its case).

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Linux Now “Completely Usable” on Apple Silicon M1 Macs

Charlotte Henry ·

A version of Linux now works on Apple Silicon M1 chip, AppleInsider reported. Security researchers at Corellium ported the operating system, and plan to release it under an open-source license.

The Linux version is a full Ubuntu desktop operating system booted from a USB, according to Corellium Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade. Although details are scarce, he said that Linux is now “completely usable” on Apple Silicon machines. Network compatibility is possible through a USB-C dongle, and the current update to the platform will support USB, I2C, and DART. The Ubuntu operating system is one initially meant for the ARM-based Raspberry Pi, Wade added.