Google Reducing Video Quality of Nest Cams to Free-up Bandwidth

Google is reducing the video quality offered by its Nest Cams, Techcrunch reported. It joins the list of companies including Apple, taking measures to help to free-up bandwidth during the coronavirus outbreak. Indeed, Google-owned YouTube has begun showing videos in Standard Definition by default to this end.

In an email to users, Google says it is temporarily lowering the video quality of Nest Cams in an effort to limit how much bandwidth each camera uses and, in turn, “conserve internet resources.” The adjustment is rolling out over the next few days, and Google says anyone who has their quality settings adjusted will get a notification in the Nest app… While Nest cameras aren’t inherently using more bandwidth right now than they otherwise might, each camera already used a good amount of bandwidth day to day. A Nest Cam IQ, for example, uses roughly 400GB of data per month at its highest settings; cutting this down to medium high shaves that down to 300GB.

Eve 4.2 Update Improves Support for HomeKit Cameras

Version 4.2 of Eve’s app brings automatic syncing of Eve settings across your iOS devices, improved support for HomeKit cameras, redesigned appearance controls for your Rooms, and more. The company is also preparing for the release of Eve Cam which will starting shipping May 2020.

Eve Cam exclusively taps into HomeKit technology to deliver state-of-the-art privacy by design, with no parallel data sharing, no account or registration, and no tracking or profiling. And even when you’re at home and have disabled all video features, you can still use Eve Cam as a full-blown motion sensor to control your other HomeKit-enabled accessories.

App Store: Eve for HomeKit – Free

Portable Second Monitor for Your MacBook: $179.35

Our deal for the Mobile Pixels DUEX Pro portable dual monitor is back. This device is a portable monitor designed to be hung off the side of your MacBook or other laptop. It’s a 1080p resolution display, and it works through USB-C. It’s $249.99 through our deal, but coupon code SAVEDUEXPRO brings it down to $179.35 at checkout.

How Apple and Google Apple Will Get us to Use COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Tech

One of the big discussions around Apple and Google’s partnership on COVID-19 contract-tracing apps is how they were actually going to get people to use them. Casey Newton of The Verge joined a call in which the firms explained that the important is the second phase – baking the technology into a device’s operating system so people don’t have to install a health authority app.

The companies said that by phase two of their effort, when contact tracing is enabled at the level of the operating system, they will notify people who have opted in to their potential exposure to COVID-19 even if they have not downloaded the relevant app from their public health authority. My understanding is that the operating system itself will alert people that they may have been exposed and direct them to download the relevant public health app. This is significant because it can be hard to get people to install software; Singapore saw only 12 percent adoption of its national contact-tracing app. Putting notifications at the system level represents a major step forward for this effort, even if still requires people to opt in.

WeChat Poses Threat to Apple in China

WeChat, a mix of a messaging, social media, and e-payment app from Tencent, seems to flout App Store rules. But it is so ubiquitous in China that Apple has to let this slide. AppleInsider, picking up on reporting from The Information, looked at the problems this could pose for Apple in the country.

WeChat itself is an app, but within it, users can open what maker Tencent calls mini-programs. Right from the start, it appears that Apple recognized the potential for mini-programs to offer App Store-style services without playing by App Store rules. According to The Information, a team from Tencent visited Apple around 2017 specifically to reassure Tim Cook that mini-programs were not apps. That mini-programs were not a threat. The argument then was that these mini-programs were limited in functionality and did not even attempt to compete with full-blown apps. Now, however, they do. Some mini-programs include live video streaming, and even augmented reality.

Zoom: Don’t Want to Get Routed Through Chinese Servers? Fork Over Your Cash

One of Zoom’s controversies is how it routes some of its network traffic through China’s servers. If you’re privacy conscious, you can opt out of specific data center regions starting April 18. But this is only for paying customers.

This feature gives our customers more control over their data and their interaction with our global network when using Zoom’s industry-leading video communication services.

I can’t say I agree. It’s not about making privacy a paid feature, it’s that Zoom is exploiting its own insecurity to create a paid feature. Next step: Making end-to-end encryption a paid feature, and leaving free users to fend for themselves.

Novelist Christopher Moore - TMO BGM Interview

Christopher Moore is the author of 17 novels, including Lamb, Coyote Blue, The Serpent of Venice, The Stupidest Angel, and NOIR. Chris published his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, and his latest novel, Shakespeare For Squirrels, will be released on May 12th.

We chatted at length about how Chris came to be a very successful novelist. I asked about the influence of author Harlan Ellison as well as his favorite and best selling novels. We explored his writing technique as we delved into two of my own favorite novels, The Stupidest Angel and NOIR. ( He writes on his Mac and uses Scrivener to outline and MS Word to compose. ) If you love Chris’s work, you’ll be entranced by his charming anecdotes in this stellar interview.

UK Government Memo Discussed De-Anonymizing Contact Tracing App Users

On today’s episode of Daily Observations, we explained what contact tracing is. Now that I understand the technology, I’m okay with it at this early stage. But of course there are still privacy implications, this being one of them. The UK is planning to build an app that works with contact tracing, but a leaked memo shows a discussion about de-anonymizing users.

However, the memo stated that “more controversially” the app could use device IDs, which are unique to all smartphones, “to enable de-anonymisation if ministers judge that to be proportionate at some stage”. It did not say why ministers might want to identify app users, or under what circumstances doing so would be proportionate.

Stunning iPhone 12 Pro Concept Video Looks at What Could be on The Way

There have been loads of iPhone 12 rumors. What features will we see? When will we see it? Well, I don’t have the answer to those questions, but Donel Bagrov and Anton Panton have created a stunning concept video for an iPhone 12 Pro. The clip looks at what we might expect in the next generation of pro-level Apple smartphones. The concept includes things like a pro retina XDR display, an under display camera, the A14 Bionic 5nm chip, and reverse charging.

SaniCharge Phone UV Sanitizer: $37.99

We have a deal on another smartphone UV sanitizer called SaniCharge. This device fits Apple iPhone 11 Pro, X, Xs, and 8 Plus, as well as Google Pixel 2 XL, or Samsung Galaxy S10 Note 9 if Android is your thing. It will sanitize your keys, earbuds, jewelry, and anything else that fits. This device is #37.99 through our deal.

The Best Documentaries and Dramas About Apple to Watch While Self-Isolating

We all have a bit more time on our hands to sit and watch films. AppleInsider has compiled a nice list of some of the best ones about Apple.

If there is a movie or feature-length documentary about Apple that is entirely, completely accurate, then still someone depicted will say it isn’t. There’s a lot of ego involved in the history of Apple, but then that’s part of why there is so much drama in it. Maybe you could make a drama out of any company’s history, but it has to be a very special corporation before anyone would watch it. Since movie makers are as aware of the interest in Apple as anyone else, though, there are a lot —a lot —of very poor documentary films attempting to catch your eye. We watched so you don’t have to: here are the movies about Apple that are more than worth your time.