Our holiday giveaway has officially come to an end, and we’re so excited to share the results! Congratulations to Antoni N.!
'Boys State' Participants Reflect on Life After Apple TV+ Doc
The Apple TV+ film Boys State tells the tale of boys who go on a unique summer leadership and citizenship program in 2018. Three of the participants sat down with directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBlaine to reflect on their experience and how they’ve change since, in a new video.
Apple Shares Details to Address iOS 14 App Privacy Questions
Apple shared an update on Thursday giving developers more information to address iOS 14 app privacy questions when it’s released.
Apple Owes Retail Workers Pay For Time in Security Screenings
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.
Deepfake Detection, In-Depth Exposure Tracking – TMO Daily Observations 2020-09-03
Bryan Chaffin and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Microsoft’s Deepfake Detector, and digging into exposure tracing in iOS.
Apple Shares New Privacy Video About Over-Sharing
Apple uploaded a funny privacy ad for the iPhone on Thursday. With the song “Diamonds Cutting Diamonds” by Lydia Ainsworth in the background, the commercial follows various people as they share private information to strangers, like their credit card number, “I browsed eight sites for divorce attorneys today,” and “I hate Lee, puke emoji” (As he sits right behind her). Apple includes a link to its privacy page in the video description.
More Apple News+ Promotion is Welcome. More Features Would Help Too.
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.
Apple Investing in Two of The World's Largest Onshore Wind Turbines in European Renewable Energy Drive
Apple is investing in the construction of two of the world’s largest onshore wind turbines and opened a new data center run on renewable energy.
US Court Rules NSA Mass Surveillance Program Illegal
Seven years after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed the agency’s mass surveillance of Americans, a U.S. appeals court has deemed it illegal.
The ruling will not affect the convictions of Moalin and his fellow defendants; the court ruled the illegal surveillance did not taint the evidence introduced at their trial. Nevertheless, watchdog groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped bring the case to appeal, welcomed the judges’ verdict on the NSA’s spy program.
The AAPL Stock Split Explained
On August 31, Apple underwent a four-for-one stock split. Editor-in-Chief Bryan Chaffin explained what this means for AAPL investors and the company itself.
[Apple Announces 4-for-1 Stock Split to Make AAPL ‘More Accessible’]
[Apple Worth $2.2 Trillion as Stock Hits Record High Following Stock Split]
TMO UK Associate Editor Charlotte Henry (#7) - BGM Interview
Charlotte is the Mac Observer’s UK Associate editor, based in London. A self described media junkie, she has also written for City A.M. (London’s daily business tabloid,) Computer Business Review, and The Times, amongst others. She is also a book author.
In this episode, Charlotte and I explore several streaming TV topics. We open with how Apple has built a coherent ecosystem that pleasantly entices customers to engage and stick with Apple TV+. Namely, strong content, theatrical releases such as Greyhound, services bundling, contingency bundling and quality content for kids. In part II, we explored research data from Reelgood that reveals how customers mix their streaming TV services. Reelgood published a fascinating, informative chart that we analyze. One upshot is that the newbies face an uphill battle. Charlotte knows her stuff, and it shows in this episode.
Apple Updates Apple Support With Wallet Passes
The Apple Support app was updated on Wednesday with a major feature: When you make a Genius Bar appointment you’ll see a button to add a pass to Wallet for faster check-in. Other updates included with version 4.1: Easier to find Advisors in your preferred language in regions with multiple languages; Accessibility improvements for VoiceOver, including Search navigation, labels, and more; Performance enhancements and bug fixes.
Your AC Will Never Run in an Empty Room Again with this Smart Thermostat and Room Sensor: $179
We have a deal on the Sensibo Air and Room Sensor. The Sensibo Air is small device that retrofits any air conditioner or heat pump to turn them into a smart sensing machine. With an always-on motion sensor, your AC and Climate React will turn on and off as needed. The package is $179 through our deal.
Amazon Removes Adverts For Staff 'Spies'
Amazon has removed adverts looking for union ‘spies’, BBC News reported. The initial title for the roles was ‘intelligence analysts’ but the company later said the wording “was not an accurate description of the role.”
Initially, Amazon indicated that it was standard practice for large businesses to employee people to carry out such activity. But overnight the adverts were withdrawn. Amazon later said: “The job post was not an accurate description of the role – it was made in error and has since been corrected.” Marianne Rawlins, principal at management consultancy Bradley Risk Management, told the BBC: “The job description implies labour spying, and that has been illegal in the US for 80 years. I expect that sadly it is pretty common among big corporations, but putting it is black and white for all the world to see looks like a mistake.”
Apple vs Epic Games Prompts 'Great Interest' From German Regulator
German regulators are following Apple’s row with Fortnite-maker Epic Games “with great interest, according to the country’s antitrust chief.
iOS 14: How to Add Captions to Photos to Add Context
iOS 14 lets you add captions to photos and it’s a great way to add more information to them to save your memories.
Apple Silicon Mac Mini, Streaming Subscription Data – TMO Daily Observations 2020-09-02
Charlotte Henry and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the Apple Silicon Mac mini, and streaming subscription overlap.
Official Trailer for Apple TV+ Series 'Tehran' Arrives, Show Available September 25
The official trailer for the forthcoming Apple TV+ series ‘Tehran’ arrived Wednesday. The show is about an Israeli Mossad agent who infiltrates Iran. However, her mission goes wrong and she finds herself trapped. It will become available from September 25.
How Jodie Deinhammer Uses iPads to Bring Students Closer to Nature
Apple shared the story of Jodie Deinhammer, an Apple Distinguished Educator and how she uses iPads in teaching to get students closer to nature.
Microsoft Unveils New Tools to Help Fight Deepfakes
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.
300,000 Jobs Created With iOS During COVID-19 Pandemic
Apple shared an update saying that its iOS app economy led to the creation of almost 300,000 new jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EE Offers iPhone Users Apple Music, TV+, Arcade 'Full Works' Bundle
EE has unveiled its Full Works Plan for iPhone, giving UK customers access to Apple Music, TV+, and Arcade as part of their mobile plan.
News Publishers Consider Abandoning iOS Over Privacy Feature
Over at The Verge, Casey Newton wrote about the increasingly heated battle between Apple and advertisers. There are a couple of tidbits I wanted to comment on.
If you believe that free, ad-supported news is beneficial to a healthy democracy, it’s worth noting that all these pro-privacy changes come at a cost.
Free is great, free news is greater, and transparency is greatest. I believe discussing a healthy democracy involves advocating for open source software, which would necessitate a stance against Apple. So I don’t disagree, and as Mr. Newton notes, we need strong privacy laws as well. He also shares an interesting link to Vox, in which some news publishers are considering abandoning iOS if they can’t monetize their users.
Ridley Scott Thinks Epic's anti-Apple 1984 Fortnite ad Was a Bit 'Ehh'
Ridley Scott was left underwhelmed but Epic Games’ mocking use of his famous ‘1984’ Superbowl ad to attack Apple in the row over Fortnite.
Russia Law Wants to Cap App Store Commissions at 20%
Russian lawmaker Fedora Tumusov introduced draft legislation on Tuesday that would cap the app fees at 20% for mobile app sellers.