Charlotte Henry

It’s long been possible to connect your iPhone to second screen But do you really want another display for your phone? Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac thinks doing so has lots of uses, particularly when it comes to streaming.

Once your handset and the larger display are connected, you can watch the video from many streaming services. I’ve tested it with Apple TV+, Disney+, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access and YouTube — it works perfectly. According to the internet, Netflix and Hulu work, too. But not Xfinity Stream. That said, there are limitations. Apple’s adapter has an HDMI 1.4 port — it can handle 1080p video but not 4K. However, not all streaming services offer 4K, so you might not be losing anything. Also, you’re not watching a movie while scrolling through Instagram. Your iPhone will be fully occupied. But still, if you’re looking for a way to watch movies or shows on a full-size TV, you don’t need to buy a Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, etc. All you need is your iPhone and Apple’s HDMI adapter.

Uber is rolling out  Uber Rent, its car hire offering in the UK, The Verge reported. It will do so in collaboration with rental firm CarTrawler, in a bid to help maximize social distancing,

Users will be able to select the new “Uber Rent” option from within the app and then browse available cars for their chosen date and location. Rental cars can then be picked up from the “hundreds” of car hire company pickup locations. The UK launch follows trials in France and Australia. The process works a little differently from Uber’s bike or scooter rentals. Although Uber says you’re technically able to make your booking at the same time as you pick up the vehicle (as you would when renting one of its Jump bikes in the UK), it encourages you to make car reservations at least 24 hours in advance. Rentals can be cancelled up to 48 hours ahead of collection and Uber is promising discounts on rentals of up to 25 percent.

Apple owes retail workers pay for the time they spent in security screenings at the end of their shifts. That’s according to a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, issued Wednesday, Reuters reported.

A unanimous three-judge panel reversed a judge who had tossed the case and ordered him to enter summary judgment for the plaintiffs, after the California Supreme Court in response to certified questions in the case said in February that time spent undergoing security checks is compensable under state law.

Robert Williams, contributing editor at MediaPost, noticed his ear prick-up at the sound of an advert for Apple News+. However, he suggests that the service might need to offer a little more to back up the increased promotion.

Apple’s promotional activity for Apple News+ is another sign of how the company plans to promote the service. The company is said to be working on content bundles that offer savings when customers combine services such as Apple Music and Apple TV+ with offerings like its Apple Arcade gaming platform… I’d also like to see more dynamic content in Apple News+ aside from static magazine pages. A handful of titles have added video covers and links to shopping websites. There is also a possibility to develop a wider range of interactive features for the service.

Microsoft has announced new tools to help combat deepfakes, reported Computing. The idea is to combat content such as video, audio, or photographs that are edited to make it look like someone has done or said something that they, in fact, never did.

According to the company, its first tool – dubbed ‘Video Authenticator’ – can analyse an image or video clip to determine whether it has been edited using AI. The tool will then provide a confidence score, indicating the chance that the media has been manipulated. In the case of a video, the tool shows a confidence score in real-time on each frame as the video plays… According to Microsoft, its new tool works by ‘detecting the blending boundary of the deepfake and subtle fading or greyscale elements that might not be detectable by the human eye.’ The company said that its video authenticator tool was created using a public dataset from Face Forensic++, and has been tested on the DeepFake Detection Challenge Dataset.

Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, is reconsidering its options for sale the video sharing app. Bloomberg News had details of the latest twist.

After China signaled it will get involved in any deal’s approval, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is reconsidering his options and weighing the implications of Beijing’s involvement, according to people familiar with the matter. The company’s regulatory team and deal negotiators are huddling to discuss whether it’s still possible to craft a sale that can win approval from both governments, an acquirer, venture investors and ByteDance itself, said one of the people, asking not to be named because the matter is private. Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. have been deep in negotiations to buy TikTok U.S., submitting proposals while seeking reassurances from Washington that the Trump administration would bless their purchases. Microsoft is working on its bid with Walmart Inc., while Oracle has won support from venture backers such as Sequoia Capital.

Following his untimely passing this weekend, actor Chadwick Boseman’s films are dominating the charts on Apple and Amazon, CNN reported.

“42,” where Boseman plays baseball legend Jackie Robinson, is currently No. 3 on Apple’s iTunes chart. Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” comes in right after at No. 4. “Marshall,” a biographical film which has Boseman take on the role of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is No. 7 and “21 Bridges,” an action film starring Boseman, is just outside the top ten at No. 12. “21 Bridges” and “Black Panther” are also big sellers over on Amazon (AMZN). The films stand at No. 1 and No. 3 on the site’s Blu-Ray bestsellers, respectively. For Amazon’s digital video chart, “Black Panther” sits at No. 6.