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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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Google Still Doesn’t Have iOS 14 Privacy Labels

Andrew Orr ·

I’ve been hesitant to keep sharing these stories. At the time this news first appeared I was skeptical, saying that we just got over the holidays so give Google a break. But as the days turn into weeks, this is when it does start to look damning and now it’s time to give Google some heat.

On January 5, Google told TechCrunch that the data would be added to its iOS apps “this week or the next week,” but both this week and the next week have come and gone with no update. It has now been well over a month since Google last updated its apps.

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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.

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The Story of the 30-Year-Old PDF Format

Andrew Orr ·

The Portable Document Format (PDF) has been around for thirty years. But how did it become so ubiquitous? Rob Walker shares the interesting story.

The PDF keeps spreading not because Adobe or any company forces others to use it, but because of “millions of people all over the world,” Parmenter says, “just doing their thing.”

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Should Apple Build Netflix For Podcasts?

Charlotte Henry ·

Rumors abound that Apple is to launch a Podcasts+ subscription service to compete with Spotify. In his latest Vulture column, Hot Pod’s Hot Pod‘s Nick Quah looked at whether he should and highlighted some difficulties that the company may come across.

You have to start with the reality that nobody’s really figured out a Netflix-esque paid subscription service for podcasting just yet, which is another way of saying that audiences haven’t sufficiently expressed interest in that kind of relationship with podcasts … or that audiences haven’t been sufficiently conditioned to want to pay for a service that would serve them podcast-like experiences. For all intents and purposes, Luminary went nowhere, notable only for its achievements in raising investment money and driving headlines. Meanwhile, other examples that can be evoked — whether it’s Stitcher Premium or Quake Media — seem largely limited in their respective achievements. We simply haven’t seen meaningful efforts at a true podcast equivalent to Netflix or even something more genre-specific like Crunchyroll, Shudder, or the Criterion Channel.

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Malwarebytes Reveals it Was Hacked by Nation State Behind ‘SolarWinds’

Andrew Orr ·

Malwarebytes co-founder and current CEO Marcin Kleczynski reveals the company was hacked. He believes it was the same nation state actor behind the SolarWinds attack. The state is believed to be Russia.

After an extensive investigation, we determined the attacker only gained access to a limited subset of internal company emails. We found no evidence of unauthorized access or compromise in any of our internal on-premises and production environments.

Crazy stuff, and we’ll probably hear of the fallout for a long time.

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AirPods Max Headbands Could be Interchangeable

Andrew Orr ·

iFixit published a tear down of the AirPods Max and it reveals, among other things, that the headband could be interchangeable.

It was rumored that Apple wanted to design the AirPods Max headband to be easily-swappable like its magnetic ear cups. That feature was thought to be missing from the final design, but this joint is so complex it just might have one more thing up its sleeve…despite the joint’s complexity, you can detach the entire headband from AirPods Max with just a SIM card removal tool or paperclip, without even opening the ear cup.

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Bug Lets Audio, Video be Transmitted Without Consent in Apps Like Signal

Andrew Orr ·

Google’s Project Zero security team found a bug that lets audio and video be transmitted without user interaction in five messaging apps. These are Signal, JioChat, Mocha, Google Duo, and Facebook Messenger. All bugs have been fixed.

I investigated the signalling state machines of seven video conferencing applications and found five vulnerabilities that could allow a caller device to force a callee device to transmit audio or video data. All these vulnerabilities have since been fixed. It is not clear why this is such a common problem, but a lack of awareness of these types of bugs as well as unnecessary complexity in signalling state machines is likely a factor.

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Where are the Safari 14 WebExtensions?

Andrew Orr ·

In 2020 Apple announced it would support browser extensions that used the WebExtensions API. But as Jason Snell points out, we haven’t seen many yet. One developer listed possible barriers for entry:

Limited time, lack of access to Apple hardware, unfamiliarity with Apple’s developer tools, Safari’s incompatibility with some existing extension-development tools, and the requirement to make some code changes in order to fit inside Apple’s security model.

I think another barrier is probably the US$99/year developer program fee. It makes sense if you’re already in the program to build an extension if it makes sense for you, but I don’t think many outside of the program will pay that just to release a new extension. Then again, it’s still in the early days of this new support.

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Analysts Say Spotify’s Podcasting Isn’t Working Out

Andrew Orr ·

Citi analysts wrote to clients their belief that Spotify’s foray into podcasting hasn’t been working.

The cadence of Premium gross additions (through 3Q20) and app download data (through 4Q20) do not show any material benefit from recent podcast investments (that began in 2019). The firm downgraded the stock to sell from neutral. Spotify’s stock was down more than 6.5% in the afternoon.

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Apple Feels Schadenfreude as Amazon is Accused of eBook Price Fixing

Andrew Orr ·

Nine years after an investigation found that Apple and the “Big Five” book publishers colluded to fix eBook prices to compete with Amazon, Amazon has now been accused of doing the same.

The lawsuit claims that almost 90% of all ebooks sold in the US are sold on Amazon, in addition to over 50% of all print books. The suit alleges that ebook prices dropped in 2013 and 2014 after Apple and major publishers were successfully sued for conspiring to set ebook prices, but rose again after Amazon renegotiated their contracts in 2015.

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Using Open Source Software to Extend Apple’s HomeKit

Andrew Orr ·

Simon Bisson wrote a cool story for ZDNet. It involves using an open source tool called Homebridge that can be used to integrate smart home devices that don’t natively support HomeKit.

The plugin ecosystem is where Homebridge really excels. By having its own defined APIs, it’s possible for anyone with access to developer documentation to build a simple translation layer that links devices to HomeKit and to Home (and to Siri). Most of the plugins are on GitHub, so if you want additional features or support for alternative hardware, you can fork existing code and start to add your own features.

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Epic Games Submits Complaint Against Apple in UK

Andrew Orr ·

The latest move in the Epic v Apple legal battle involves the former expanding its complaint to other countries. This was made public [PDF] by the Competition Appeal Tribunal of the UK.

This is an important argument to make on behalf of consumers and developers in the U. K. and around the world who are impacted by Apple and Google’s misuse of market power. Epic is not seeking damages from Apple or Google in the U. K., Australia or the U. S., it is simply seeking fair access and competition that will benefit all consumers.

TMO Deals

Portable Air Heater with Detachable Hand Warmer: $84.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the Nordic Hygge Värme, an innovative portable heater that comes with a detachable hand warmer that you can bring anywhere with you. Inside the portable hand warmer is something called Phase Changing Wax that can capture the heat and hold the temperature around up to 122°F/55°C for up to an hour. The company says the space heater part of the device can heat small spaces in as little as 3 seconds. It’s $84.99 through our deal.

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AirPods Spatial Audio Could Arrive on Netflix

Andrew Orr ·

As I noted last year in my AirPods Pro editorial, Spatial Audio is a great audio experience. It can be found on Apple TV+ and Disney+, but not Netflix. But a recent rumor claims Netflix is testing it.

The iPhoneSoft report doesn’t include specific information on when Netflix will roll out spatial audio report, instead only vaguely suggesting a spring release with a “limited” catalog.

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This is How Seriously Apple Takes Partner Secrecy

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple, as we all know, loves secrecy. No wonder Hyundai did a quick retreat when it confirmed talks about an Apple car. But, CNBC revealed, the burden placed on partners can go even beyond that.

One example is Corning, which supplies glass for iPhones. Apple has paid the company at least $450 million since 2017 and has highlighted it in its own press releases as an example of an American manufacturing company it supports. But its CEO said earlier this year he wasn’t comfortable talking about the relationship until Corning’s new stronger glass was mentioned during the recent iPhone 12 launch livestream. “I have to tell you that it feels not quite right to use Apple’s name out loud. I still don’t think I’ve ever done that. Inside the company, we have a codename for Apple, we never even say ‘Apple’ inside the company,” Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said on an earnings call in October. “So, if you could see me, I sound like I’m turning a little pink and I am having an anxiety attack, if I read their name out loud.”

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Apple REJI Program Lead Alisha Johnson Discusses Latests Announcements

Charlotte Henry ·

On Wednesday, Apple announced new programs and investments as part of its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI). Program lead Alisha Johnson talked to Bustle about how efforts fit within the company.

When we looked at REJI as an effort, we had this great model to follow. And it was the environment work that Apple’s been steeped in for over a decade, where in order to ensure this work is sustained and that it’s far-reaching and affects every part of our operations. We have employees in every part of our operations who are looking at ways to already start to focus this work in their daily roles… We talked to our content team, Apple Music, and Apple TV+, and they’re already looking at ways that they can ensure they’re elevating Black voices, that their programming is focused on educating customers. As we were having internal conversations within Apple around launching REJI, there were teams that were already deploying education moments for customers. They weren’t waiting for our green light. We had a Siri team that was already put together in response to the question, “Do all lives matter?” so people could really understand the importance of saying Black lives matter.

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Apple Apps No Longer Bypass macOS Big Sur Firewalls

Andrew Orr ·

In macOS Big Sur, Apple deprecated third-party kernel extensions including Network Kernel Extensions (NKEs). NKEs are used by apps like firewalls to monitor network traffic. Apple’s new user-mode Network Extension Framework had a side-effect: Apple’s own apps wouldn’t be routed through it and thus could bypass third-party firewalls. But now that has changed.

I of course also wondered if malware could abuse these “excluded” items to generate network traffic that could surreptitiously bypass any socket filter firewall.  Unfortunately the answer was yes! It was (unsurprisingly) trivial to find a way to abuse these items, and generate undetected network traffic.

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Apple Supplier Foxconn Joins Partnership to Build Cars for Third Parties

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple supplier Foxconn and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely announced Wednesday that they are partnering provide contract manufacturing for third-parties, Reuters reported. It adds to a growing number of stories concerning Apple and electric vehicles.

They will each hold 50% of a venture that will also provide consulting services on electric vehicle (EV) technologies to automakers, the companies said in a statement. It marks the latest move by Foxconn, a major Apple Inc supplier, into autos after a tie-up with Chinese electric car startup Byton and comes amid reports that Apple is likely to launch a self-driving electric car by 2024. For Geely, the partnership will allow it to share its first EV-focused platform, launched in September, with other automakers, according to people familiar with Geely’s plan.