Charlotte Henry

Senior Apple executive Lisa Jackson met with Ukraine’s foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko at Davos on Thursday, Business Insider reported. It followed the controversial labeling of the annexed region of Crimea as part of Russia in Apple Maps.

Prystaiko tweeted a photo of himself alongside Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives. His tweet said the pair discussed Apple’s “next steps” in the Ukrainian market, with a follow-up tweet hinting that the Crimea issue was also discussed. He wrote: “[Ukraine has a] growing pool of loyal customers, creative IT class, improving business climate – all the ingredients for beneficial cooperation are in place.” In a follow-up he added: “2/2 Protection of IPR, ‘grey market sales’ and some outstanding issues of a political nature are being resolved, too.”

British officials have proposed that Huawei is given a limited role in Britain’s 5G network, Reuters reported. A decision is expected imminently.

The recommendation, made at a meeting of officials from senior government departments on Wednesday, comes ahead of a meeting of Britain’s National Security Council next week to decide how to deploy Huawei equipment, the sources said. The officials proposed barring Huawei from the sensitive, data-heavy “core” part of the network and restricted government systems, closely mirroring a provisional decision made last year under former Prime Minister Theresa May. “The technical and policy guidance hasn’t changed,” said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. “Now it is down to a political calculation.

The Apple Watch has, for a good while now, been known for effectively recognizing cases of Atrial Fibrillation. AppleInsider reported on a new case in Kentucky, when a Christmas present helped a woman there with the heart condition.

As highlighted in a report by WHAS 11 on Wednesday, Rosemary Stiles, who received Apple Watch as a gift from her boyfriend in 2018, wanted the device to keep in touch with her children while on the go. While not explained in detail, it appears Stiles was looking to use tbe unspecified Apple Watch model in situations that would otherwise preclude full access to an iPhone, like driving. According to Kentucky law, people are allowed to operate a cellphone while driving if at least one hand is on the wheel, but that mandate is due to change in February when drivers will be required to rely on hands-free modes of communication.

Motorola is finally going to release its foldable phone. The $1,500 Razr is going to be available for pre-order from Monday, Bloomberg News reported.

Online pre-orders for the foldable smartphone begin Jan. 26 and sales in stores start Feb. 6, Motorola said. The device will available on Motorola’s website, and through Walmart Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. The handset was announced in November and the company originally targeted December for pre-orders. But the Lenovo Group Ltd. unit postponed that plan, saying that initial demand outstripped its supply predictions. Motorola did not blame technical issues for the delay.

Gone are the days of having to sneak notes across the classroom in order to send a message to a friend. Kids are now using AirPods and push-to-talk tech to chat during school, according to iMore.

It turns out enterprising kids are sharing AirPods and then using text-to-speech to allow them to “talk” without being caught. The obvious use case here is keeping up with your crew during class. Because nobody pays attention when their teacher is talking, right? That’s reserved for squares like me! The theory is actually one that is ingenious if you think about it. You swap an AirPod with your friend and then use text-to-speech to communicate with them.

The implementation of a French tax that would have affected Apple and other major tech firms is to be delayed. The 3 percent tariff will not be enforced whilst France and the U.S. continue trade talks, AppleInsider reported.

Originally proposed in December of 2018, the so-called GAFA – Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon – tax, had been given a stamp of approval by the French senate in July of 2019. The tax would have been applied retroactively. Under the measure, the 3% sales tax would be applied to sales generated in France by major multinational firms. France has pulled back on demanding the retroactive down payments temporarily, in an effort to prevent the U.S. from applying tariffs to French-made goods. “What we’re proposing is to give ourselves time and to show our goodwill, to postpone the remaining payments to December,” a French Finance Ministry source said, according to Reuters. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to negotiate the details in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the source added.

Private keys are a crucial part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, in recent times, some of those have been compromised. Qredo CEO Anthony Foy shared his suggestions on how to protect them.

Bitcoin lets you be your own bank by holding your private keys, but as the cryptocurrency industry has developed, this idea has become diluted. Many cryptocurrency users now choose to surrender their private keys to third party custodians. This has brought trust back into a trustless system—with fatal effects. Cryptocurrency’s short history is littered with massive losses, where the private keys controlling millions have been stolen from exchange wallets, pilfered by scam artists, and embezzled by trusted custodians. Even those individuals who have stayed true to the spirit of Bitcoin and kept their own private keys have still suffered, with dodgy wallets, silly mistakes, and even a series of ‘horrible boating accidents’ all leading people to lose their cryptocurrency.