Charlotte Henry

Apple framed the decision to remove a wall adapter and headphones from the iPhone 12 box as an environmental decision. I noted that it was probably something they would do anyway to encourage customers to buy more accessories. Well, according to a note from Deutsche Bank seen by CNBC, that’s exactly the case.

Deutsche Bank analysts picked up on that potential growth in a research note earlier this week. “While [Apple] claims that they are not shipping earphones and a charging cube with the iPhone to save the environment (they are including a charging cord), the reality is that such a decision could drive a financial benefit for the company as well,” the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. Looking beyond the near-term sales of the iPhone 12, Apple’s new magnetic charging system, MagSafe, is laying the groundwork for even more accessories for the iPhone. There have long been rumors that Apple’s ultimate goal is to remove the charging port in the iPhone, like it did for the standard headphone jack, which will in turn drive iPhone owners to buy even more extras for their devices.

Google has removed three popular apps that were aimed at children from its Android Play Store. It came after researchers found that Princess Salon​, Number Coloring and ​Cats & Cosplay violated data collection rules.

Researchers at the International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC), a nonprofit watchdog based out of Boston, found that a trio of popular and seemingly innocent-looking apps aimed at younger users were recently found to be violating Google’s data collection policies, potentially accessing users’ Android ID and AAID (Android Advertising ID) numbers, with the data leakage potentially connected to the apps being built using SDKs from Unity, Umeng and Appodeal. Collectively, the apps had more than 20 million downloads between them.

It emerged earlier this week that Peanuts holiday specials, as wells as Snoopy in Space, will be exclusive to Apple TV+. NBC News reported that some fans of the comic strip and shows are not happy with the special being off traditional TV for the first time.

The popularity of the beloved characters — such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty — have spanned generations in large part due to the annual specials. But despite the limited free access to the content, many fans took to social media and shared their distaste for the move, with some noting that many families do not have access to streaming. Others felt the move ended a beloved, shared American tradition. “The point of having them on network TV is the country coming together and watching at the same time. That’s being taken from us,” one Twitter user wrote. “The Peanuts specials are one of the very FEW things that brings US together.”

In its early days, Google famously touted its ‘don’t be evil’ policy. Now, it’s being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice. Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac thinks Apple should adopt its own version of that policy, to avoid ending up in similar legal and political difficulties.

When deciding how to handle something, Apple must ask itself, “Even if this will make us money, will it also make us look like jerks?” That doesn’t mean it can’t remain a very profitable enterprise. But it seems like many of the changes that would polish Apple’s image wouldn’t cost that much, relative to current profits. And they’d help head off government oversight. The Department of Justice and Congress, along with the E.U. Commissioner for Competition, are watching Cupertino closely. Apple doesn’t want any of these governmental bodies forcing major changes on its business.

There’s lots of excitement about 5G here on Earth. However, Cult of Mac reported that there may soon be 4G on the moon.

Rather than going with something exotic, NASA picked Nokia to build a wireless communication system based on LTE. This is the same standard used by today’s iPhones and other handsets. Nokia points out that LTE has proven to be reliable over years of use on Earth, and it’s scalable and easily deployable. “The system could support lunar surface communications at greater distances, increased speeds, and provide more reliability than current standards,” NASA wrote when approving the plan.= Cell towers on the moon will be integrated into the lunar lander built by Intuitive Machines. “The solution has been specially designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the launch and lunar landing, and to operate in the extreme conditions of space,” Nokia said in a statement. “The fully integrated cellular network meets very stringent size, weight and power constraints of space payloads in an extremely compact form factor.”

Washington D.C. has launched its COVID-19 tracking system. As AppleInsider noted, it does not use a standalone app but exposure notifications built into iOS from iOS 13.7

The Washington DC system functions similarly to others seen in the past, including Pennsylvania’s COVID alert PA. When someone tests positive for COVID-19, they are given an anonymized code via the health department. The code, when entered into DC CAN, will send alerts to anyone who has met the minimum threshold for exposure. Currently, the minimum threshold for exposure is met when someone is within six feet or less of an infected person for a minimum of 15 minutes. Android users can download the app from the Google Play store. Apple iPhone users just need to opt into the exposure notification system, and turn on notification alerts for the Washington, DC region in their iPhone’s settings.

AT&T boss John Stankey has said that tech giants, including Apple, hold too much power over streaming. He made the comments, reported by the Daily Mail at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event.

Where the bottlenecks are sometimes occurring are in these commercial agreements,’ Stankey said during the Wall Street Journal’s annual Tech Live event Monday that was hosted online due to the pandemic.’ We should ask ourselves, is that friction somebody really feeling their oats and maybe having market power above and beyond what’s reasonable for innovation?’ he added. HBO max launched in late May as a new video app, similar to Amazon Video, Apple TV+ and Disney+ seeking to profit of the demand for online TV, and offers series like Friends, The Big Bang Theory and HBO’s library of original TV series.   AT&T is trying to grow their HBO Max subscriber base and convince existing viewers to switch to the Max app. This provides AT&T with better profits than the meek HBO line-up offered through cable partners like Comcast.’Our focus probably needs to be on equity of rules and engagement,’ Stanke said Monday.