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Private Messenger ‘Signal’ Now Automatically Blurs Faces

Andrew Orr ·

Private messenger app Signal added a feature that lets it automatically blur faces in your images.

Thousands of people are protesting against police brutality and to support the Black Lives Matters cause. If you are a part of the protests, you might post photos of the demonstration around you on social media or send them to your friends — and that’s not entirely safe, because it could help identify people there and put them in danger.

A great feature. I’ve been trying to create a shortcut that can obfuscate faces.

TMO Deals

X-Mirage AirPlay for Mac: $9.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on X-Mirage, software that turns your Mac into an AirPlay receiver for mirroring whatever on your iPhone, iPad or iPod screen – apps, games, photos, videos, presentations, websites, and more to the bigger screen. It also offers real-time mirroring and media control. A lifetime license for this software is $9.99 through our deal.

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Google Facing Lawsuit Overs Alleged Tracking of Users Using Incognito Mode

Charlotte Henry ·

Google is facing a $5 billion lawsuit amid claims its technology invades the privacy of users even when they are using incognito mode. The class proposed by the complaint could potential involve “millions” of Google users,  Reuters reported.

According to the complaint filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, Google gathers data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps, regardless of whether users click on Google-supported ads. This helps Google learn about users’ friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and even the “most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” they search for online, the complaint said. Google “cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorized data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone,” the complaint said. Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesman, said the Mountain View, California-based company will defend itself vigorously against the claims.

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iOS 14 May Work on an iPhone 6s, And Other Firms Should Take Note

Charlotte Henry ·

Recent rumors suggest that the iOS 14, likely to revealed at WWDC towards the end of the month, will work on devices going as far back as the iPhone 6s. Which is pretty impressive. Christine Chan at iMore thinks it shows Android device makers have a lot to learn from Apple.

It’s actually quite impressive that Apple continues to support its devices for so long, especially when you compare it to Android devices. With Android, you have hundreds or even thousands of different hardware devices from different manufacturers, and these range from being super cheap models to flagship devices. Google releases a new version of Android every year, and for the most part, Google’s own Pixel devices get first dibs on new software updates. At the same time, other handsets need to wait for their manufacturer to modify that software before it reaches users, and sometimes, others are just left out entirely. And who knows how long it takes before that update reaches a specific manufacturer’s hardware? So even if you buy a flagship Android device today, there’s no guarantee that it will still be getting support or updates five years down the road. So when compared to Apple, where even a five-year-old iPhone 6s will be getting support through at 2021 with the latest iOS 14, it’s a bit of a letdown.

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CES 2021 to be Physical Event in Las Vegas

Charlotte Henry ·

CES 2021 is to be a physical event in Las Vegas, along with some digital elements, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced on Wednesday. However, as The Verge points out, it’s not clear it will be ok to hold large scale events at that point, nor that people will actually want to go.

The stakes are high for CES. It’s one of the largest conventions held each year in Las Vegas, responsible for bringing a huge number of visitors to the city, with around 175,000 attendees last year. The Las Vegas Convention Center, the primary venue where the event is held, is scheduled to complete a $980 million expansion just in time for next year’s show. And while consumers may know CES as the event where new TVs, cars, and other gadgets are announced, it also remains an important venue for meetings between retailers, manufacturers, and all the companies in between. The CTA is promising new health policies for the show. The group intends to “regularly clean and sanitize spaces” and offer “sanitization stations.” It also plans to widen aisles and seats to increase distancing, limit “touch points” by using tech like mobile payments, and provide on-site health services. The CTA says it’ll look into doing temperature scans and that it plans to issue “best practices,” like wearing a mask — though it doesn’t say if they’ll be required.

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HBO Max Won't Count Against AT&T Data Caps

Charlotte Henry ·

Streaming on HBO Max will not count against your AT&T data cap, The Verge reported. Not surprisingly, the same does not apply to rival streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or Apple TV+.

According to an AT&T executive familiar with the matter, HBO Max is using AT&T’s “sponsored data” system, which technically allows any company to pay to excuse its services from data caps. But since AT&T owns HBO Max, it’s just paying itself: the data fee shows up on the HBO Max books as an expense and on the AT&T Mobility books as revenue. For AT&T as a whole, it zeroes out. Compare that to a competitor like Netflix, which could theoretically pay AT&T for sponsored data, but it would be a pure cost. That’s why the last time we looked at AT&T’s sponsored data system, the only three streaming services we could find using it… were owned by AT&T. It’s also why sponsored data systems fly in the face of net neutrality principles.

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Apple Pencil in Black Could be on the Way

Charlotte Henry ·

The Apple Pencil has, thus far, only been available in white. However, AppleInsider picked up on rumors that it may become available in black in the not too distant future.

There haven’t been any rumors about a potential Apple Pencil refresh, though the stylus was last updated in 2018 alongside an iPad Pro overhaul, three years after it first debuted in 2015. Currently, the Apple Pencil is only available in white. On Tuesday, Twitter user Mr. white (@laobaiTD) posted a vague statement that the “New Apple Pencil is Black.” Because of the lack of information, it isn’t clear when a third-generation Apple Pencil could launch, or what the speculation is based on.

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That Time Steve Jobs Taught Bill Atkinson About Rounded Rectangles

Andrew Orr ·

Here’s a humorous little story from Andy Hertzfeld, a member of Apple’s original Macintosh team. Bill Atkinson did some clever programming to draw circles and ovals quickly on a Mac. But Steve Jobs had something else in mind.

Bill fired up his demo and it quickly filled the Lisa screen with randomly-sized ovals, faster than you thought was possible. But something was bothering Steve Jobs. “Well, circles and ovals are good, but how about drawing rectangles with rounded corners? Can we do that now, too?”