T-Mobile has an aggressive strategy for the iPhone 11: People who sign up for a plan and trade in an old iPhone can get the iPhone 11 for up to 50% off.
Here’s the full pricing break down from T-Mobile: Save $550 when you trade in an iPhone XS Max 64GB or 256GB; save $500 when you trade in an iPhone XS 64GB or 256GB; and save $350 when you trade in an iPhone XR 64GB or 128GB, X 64GB, 8, 8 Plus, 7 or 7 Plus.
Those are great deals, especially for people with older models like the iPhone 7.
Uber pushed back against a new employment law in California, Wired reported. The law was designed with ride-hailing apps in mind, trying to get them classify drivers as employees not contractors.
The company’s argument rests on a premise that’s been a cornerstone since its early days: that Uber is a technology company, not a transportation one. The California law, called Assembly Bill 5, reaffirms a 2018 California Supreme Court decision that established a three-part test to separate independent contractors from employees, who are eligible for minimum wage, health care benefits, workers’ compensation, and other protections. A worker is only an independent contractor if she is not under the control or direction of the company while she’s working; if her work is “outside the usual course” of the company’s business; and if she is “customarily engaged” in the same kind of work that she does for the company. This three-part test is already in limited use in Massachusetts and New York.
Glenn S. Gerstell, general counsel for the National Security Agency (NSA) published a letter in the New York Times, writing about how a “digital revolution threatens to upend our entire national security infrastructure.” He thinks backdoors into encryption is one answer (of course he doesn’t use the word backdoor), as well as the agency collecting even more data from citizens. Read his letter by clicking the link below, then read this take by Nefarious Laboratories.
Make no mistake, this letter is a thinly-veiled threat to every major corporation around the globe: provide the U.S. government with access to all of your data or else, “there is another path, and it is the one taken by authoritarian regimes around the world”.
Ken Segall writes (Sep. 9) that it’s time to dump both the “i” in iPhone as well as the alphabet soup.
I think it’s amazingly cool that the i-thing happened, but everything has a beginning and an end. The trick is knowing when to end.
Smarts and forward-thinking always beats clinging to the past.
The truth is, Apple has already made the i-decision. It’s been years since a new i-product appeared. Apple Watch, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Card—all would be i-things under the old rules.
Apple dropped the alphabet soup on Sep. 10 along with the bizarre “X” vs. “ten.” Will the “i” be next?
Hotel lobbyists don’t like Airbnb and its competition, so they’re introducing a bill to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
And they’re not just focused on pushing this loophole for Airbnb. It appears they’re going all in on stripping Section 230 protections from any internet service hosting 3rd party content. As part of this, they recently released what can only be described as a push poll to mislead people about Airbnb, the laws around these issues, and Section 230. Each question in the poll is at best actively misleading and at worst, completely bullshit.
Apple didn’t mention the HomePod on stage yesterday, but Benjamin Mayo reports that a product refresh will appear later this fall.
A new forthcoming feature is called Ambient Sounds. This will allow users to easily play white noise sounds on their HomePods, including ocean waves, birdsong, rainstorms, and more. Right now, users are forced to AirPlay from another iOS device to easily play relaxing background audio on HomePod. Ambient Sounds will make this a first-party feature, fully integrated with Siri.
If Apple ever comes out with a cheaper HomePod, I’d probably buy one just for the ambient sounds.
Amazingly, the Apple Watch Series 5 will start at 32GB of storage, doubling the Series 4 storage point of 16GB.
At 32GB of storage for both GPS and Cellular models, the Apple WatchSeries 5 offers double the storage of the previous Series 4 models. Apple may have increased the storage in the new device due to the Apple Watch App Store that’s available in watchOS 6, set to be released on September 19.
Now if only watchOS 6 had the Files app so I could store a copy of my data on it.
Right now, books published in the U.S. before 1924 are in the public domain. This means they are publicly owned and everyone can use and copy them. But there’s a loophole in copyright law which gives up to 75% of books published between 1923 and 1964 secret public domain status. It’s hard to figure out which ones they are, so a group of libraries, archivists, and volunteers are finding these public domain books, scanning them, and uploading them to the internet.
Richardson notes that much of that heavy lifting is being done by volunteers at organizations like Project Gutenberg, a nonprofit effort to digitize and archive cultural works. These volunteers are tasked with locating a copy of the book in question, scanning it, proofing it, then putting out HTML and plain-text editions.
Apple updated its website today, noting that macOS Catalina won’t arrive until an unknown date in October. From TechCrunch:
After a summer of beta testing, Apple is about to release the next major version of macOS: macOS Catalina. But not so fast; the new version will arrive in October, according to Apple’s updated website. As always, this update will be available as a free download in the Mac App Store.
The software release dates are all over the place this year.
Apple’s “By Innovation Only” media event for new iPhones and other new product launches is set to start at 10:00 AM PDT. Join The Mac Observer for our live coverage of Apple’s announcements. And be sure to stick around after the event for our extra news and analysis, plus our Daily Observations wrap up.
Firefox Private Network is a Mozilla VPN launching under its old Test Pilot program. It’s available as a beta today for U.S. users with a Firefox account.
In a nutshell, the Firefox Private Network extension will provide a “secure, encrypted path to the web” to protect the user’s Wi-Fi connection and data contained within the Firefox browser. One of the scenarios Mozilla thinks Firefox Private Network will be useful for is when connecting to the internet through public Wi-Fi hotspots, as it will shield personal information and conceal what websites a user is visiting.
Attorneys general from 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico launched an antitrust probe into Google Monday. The drive was led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, CNBC reported. It followed the launched of similar action against Facebook on Friday.
The probe includes attorneys general from 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. California and Alabama are not nvolved in the probe, Paxton said at a press conference. Other attorneys general at the media conference emphasized Google’s dominance in the ad market and use of consumer data. “When there is no longer a free market or competition, this increases prices, even when something is marketed as free, and harms consumers,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican. “Is something really free if we are increasingly giving over our privacy information? Is something really free if online ad prices go up based on one company’s control?”
According to an investigation of President Trump’s Twitter security, his account might be vulnerable to being hacked, although some disagree.
The source who shared information about Trump’s Twitter security said they don’t believe the account will be hacked, but that the risk should be kept in perspective. “Remember we are talking about access to a Twitter account, not access to the nuclear launch codes,” they said. “While the optics would be bad if the account were ever hacked, it would not be a national crisis.”
Andy Greenberg writes about security problems in iMessage and Safari, saying that these products make iPhone less secure.
“If you want to compromise an iPhone, these are the best ways to do it,” says independent security researcher Linus Henze of the two apps…He and other iOS researchers argue that when it comes to the security of both iMessage and WebKit—the browser engine that serves as the foundation not just of Safari but all iOS browsers—iOS suffers from Apple’s preference for its own code above that of other companies.
Apple is in a tough position. If a company isn’t great at security, they could get a third-party to audit its software. But that would create a huge target.
When Tim Cook first showed-off the Apple Watch it was not necessarily clear what it was for. But, said James Titcomb at the Telegraph, it has proved to be a success.
New gadgets rarely come out of the gates fully formed; technology is an iterative process. The problem for Cook was that the company’s previous products had delighted instantly. The appeal of the iPod and iPhone were obvious as soon as they were touched. The Watch, by contrast, has been that rare thing for Apple: a slow burner. Unlike its predecessors, which were close to the finished item when launched, the original Apple Watch felt like a prototype, one that has since developed it out in the open. More recent versions have dramatically improved. Apple has dispensed with any pretence of the Watch being a luxury good, and stopped attempting to squeeze aspects of the iPhone onto its small screen.
Apple is tweaking the App Store algorithm to make Apple apps less likely to appear in search results. This seeks to address complaints that the company unfairly uses the App Store to promote its own apps in favor of competition.
Mr. Schiller and Mr. Cue said the algorithm had been working properly. They simply decided to handicap themselves to help other developers.
“We make mistakes all the time,” Mr. Cue said.
“We’re happy to admit when we do,” Mr. Schiller said. “This wasn’t a mistake.”
I think the antitrust concerns about Apple have valid arguments, and I think this is a good move by Apple. Notice Phil Schiller gently correct Eddy.
Apple’s glass cube retail store on Fifth Avenue is reopening, and it’s bedecked with rainbows to celebrate.
A filming crew was posted outside the cube, grabbing shots of passers-by photographing themselves with the new design. One of the crew members told Quartz they were filming “a new commercial” for Apple about the relaunched store, but wouldn’t go into any further detail.
I think it looks great.
Featured image credit: Quartz/Mike Murphy
iCloud features in the iOS 13 betas have been removed because of buggy issues (And is probably a big driver behind iOS 13.1 betas). Developer Craig Hockenberry says this resulted in some unhappy customers.
Entire folders were either gone or corrupted. Apple’s mechanism to recover deleted files was of no help. The customers with weird folder duplicates were the “lucky” ones…Anyone who’s not a developer, and hasn’t been burned by a bad OS, does not know the kind of trouble that lies ahead. It’s irresponsible for Apple to release a public beta with known issues in iCloud…As an Apple shareholder, I also worry about how these failures will damage the iCloud brand.
This is exactly why you don’t run beta software on mission-critical devices. It’s not irresponsible of Apple, it’s irresponsible of people who ignore the warning on beta.apple.com to make backups. These people are why there are “Caution: Product May Be Hot” labels on microwaveable food.
Some people are customizing their Apple Cards with CNC milling machines in an effort to improve Apple’s minimalistic credit card.
As Wiegand showed on his Instagram account, he loaded his card into one of these computer-controlled cutting machines to customize the white finish with the filigree you’d find on the back of a 19th-century-era Bicycle playing card.
Neat stuff. We’ve already seen wallet cases specifically for Apple Cards. I wonder if some companies will create Card skins.
Qualcomm will expand use of its 5G chips into mid-priced phones. Reuters reported the shift from being almost exclusively in top-end phones will happen in 2020.
Qualcomm is already supplying phone makers such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) with chips for 5G wireless data networks, which are expected to be faster than current 4G and LTE networks. But those chips have typically been from the San Diego chip suppliers’ most expensive line, its Snapdragon 8 series. Qualcomm said in remarks prepared for the IFA tech fair in Berlin that it plans to add 5G capabilities to its lower-cost Snapdragon 6 and 7 series devices, which could make 5G phones available at lower prices than the current models, mostly flagship devices priced at a premium. Qualcomm’s 6 and 7 series Snapdragon chips are found in devices from Lenovo Group Ltd’s (0992.HK) Motorola, Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK), Oppo and Vivo that retail in the $300 range.
Apple is starting to get the hang of what being a services company really means. Charlotte and I have wrote about unofficial web players for Apple Music, and now Apple is beta testing an official one.
To use the new Apple Music web version, subscribers can visit the link beta.music.apple.com and sign in with their Apple ID.
At launch, the service includes many core features, like searching and playing songs from the Apple Music catalog, searching and playing songs from your library (if Sync Library is enabled), accessing your playlists and more.
The Verge writes:
Samsung may have finally fixed the Galaxy Fold and confirmed new release dates for the foldable phone, but anyone who preordered the phone earlier this year may still be out of luck: Samsung is emailing customers to cancel all preorders while it “rethink[s] the entire customer experience” surrounding the sale of the phone,
How un-Apple.
Planned Parenthood Direct is an app that lets you order birth control and get UTI treatment from your phone. It will roll out to all 50 states by the end of 2019.
For either birth control prescriptions or UTI treatment, you’ll need to fill out some personal and medical information, then wait up to one business day for a clinician to decide whether your case is straightforward enough that they can write your prescription. In some states, you’ll need to do a video chat. And depending on the provider’s decision, your request may be turned down and you’ll need to see somebody in person.
I’ve coined the phrase “zombie rumor” because these rumors keep getting resurrected. First it was the Apple TV set, and now it’s the iPhone SE 2 and Touch ID that is embedded into the screen. Mark Gurman tells us about both.
Apple is considering including this in-screen touch sensor in the 2020 iPhone model if testing is successful, the people said. Suppliers have proven their ability to integrate the technology into iPhones, but the company has not managed to mass-produce it yet, one person familiar with the development work said.
I think going back to Touch ID is a step backward. Face ID is more secure, so Apple would be intentionally creating less-secure devices, unless they can somehow get Touch ID up to par with Face ID.
