Enter our new international giveaway for a chance to win the brand new iPhone 16 Pro.
More Cities, States Say No to Cashless Businesses
Last month New York City passed a bill to ban businesses from rejecting cash. On February 13 a similar resolution will be heard in Washington, D.C.
Excluding people from paying with cash means “essentially discriminating against people who are low-income, people who are homeless, also undocumented,” she said.
Getting a credit or debit card often requires a form of ID, a utility or another bill, money to deposit and a financial history. Mitchell said that in Washington, D.C., nearly a third of residents rely on cash every day because they don’t have a card or even a bank account.
tvOS 13.4 Beta Indicates New Apple TV 4K Hardware On Way
Amongst a range of new beta software, a beta version of tvOS 13.4 hinted that we might have new Apple TV 4K hardware in the near future.
Turn Your Phone Into a Universal Remote and Control Multiple Smart Home Devices: $19.95
We have a deal on Hombli, a smart IR remote control that turns your iPhone or Android device into a universal remote for multiple smarthome devices. The Hombli acts as a hub, and you control it with a companion app. With it, you can access over 80,000 devices from popular brands including Samsung, Sony, and Philips, and you can use hands-free voice commands using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. This device is $19.95 through our deal.
New Video Shows off iPhone 11 Night Mode Capability
Set to “We Only Come Out At Night” by Smashing Pumpkins, Apple’s new video shows the capabilities of iPhone 11’s Night Mode feature. Whether your situation is low-light or no-light, Night Mode is a powerful camera feature that turns on automatically. Look for the Night Mode icon at the top of the camera, which looks like a crescent moon. It will turn yellow when it’s enabled. Your iPhone might take the shot instantly, or it will take several seconds. It depends on how dark your scene is.
Here’s How to Turn Off Netflix Autoplay Previews
Today we can finally turn off Netflix autoplay previews, a feature that annoyed many users. You’ll have to sign in to Netflix in a browser.
Determining Streaming Success – TMO Daily Observations 2020-02-06
John Martellaro joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss John’s metrics of what makes a streaming service a success and obstacles that lie in wait.
Review: Jelly Comb Backlit Keyboard Case for 2019 iPad
The Jelly Comb backlit keyboard iPad case provides an all in one iPad case and keyboard solution at a competitive price.
Was Facebook’s Libra Planning to Make Money in Dirty Ways?
I know that’s kind of a clickbait headline but it’s from a quote by Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, who dropped out of Facebook’s Libra organization after “multiple red flags.” Emphasis mine:
One reason was Libra’s leaders wouldn’t commit to abiding by laws around knowing their clients, money laundering, and data management, he told the newspaper.
“Every time you talked to the main proponents of Libra, I said ‘Would you put that in writing?’ They wouldn’t.”
It was also unclear to Banga how Libra would generate revenue, stoking his fears that it would make money in unscrupulous ways. “When you don’t understand how money gets made, it gets made in ways you don’t like,”
Facebook profiting off of money laundering?
Dolby Atmos Coming to LG Apple TV App Later in 2020
LG confirmed that the Apple TV app on its TVs will support Dolby Atmos and AirPlay 2 later this year.
Apple Independent Repair Program has a Strict Contract
The Apple Independent Repair Program sells parts, tools, and diagnostic services to repair shops, but the contract has strict rules.
Amazon Creating 15,000 Jobs And Building New Giant Tower
Amazon is set to create 15,000 new jobs in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle. The firm is also building a giant 43-story tower there, it’s biggest ever.
Planning for the 43-story tower, its tallest yet, is currently underway. Amazon’s plans for the proposed building, referred to as Bellevue 600, were unveiled last July. The building will have about 1 million square feet of office space and is expected to be completed by 2024. Amazon said it expects to bring the 15,000 jobs to Bellevue over the next few years. More than 2,000 employees currently work in Bellevue, and the company has about 700 job openings in the city.
Most Apple TV+ Seven Day Trial Users Don't Buy it
Flixed surveyed Apple TV+ users. It found that 72 percent of those who signed up for a seven-day trial people didn’t purchase it once that trial expired, iMore reported.
According to their report, they surveyed 1090 Apple TV+ trial users. 73% of those people signed up with a seven-day trial, only 21% got the free year that comes with an Apple device purchase. Half of those surveyed said their trial had expired. Of those whose trial was over, 72% said they did not purchase Apple TV+ after it had expired, with only 28% going on to become paying subscribers. Of the rest whose trials had not yet expired, nearly 60% said they would pay the $4.99 fee once the time came. In comparison to Netflix, only 19% said that the service was either a little or much better. The rest all said that Apple TV+ was either the same, a little worse or much worse than Netflix.
NYPD Replacing Memo Books With iOS App
The NYPD are scrapping their famous memo books, replacing them with an iPhone and iOS app linked to a central database.
Twitter iPhone and iPad Apps Get Update
Twitter shared news of version 8.7.1 of its iOS app on Thursday. 9to5Mac noted a number of welcome updates. They included fixing the issue that meant users did not see polls whilst using the mobile version and updating some criticized layout features on the iPad.
Twitter says that it is rolling out version 8.7.1 of the Twitter for iOS app with a fix for a bug that meant polls would not appear for users on iPhone: “Having trouble seeing polls in Tweets on iOS? Updating your app to version 8.7.1 when it becomes available for you in the App Store should help! Thanks for bearing with us while we worked on this.” [It] also made a change to the Twitter app on iPad.
iPhone 9 Pre-Order Posters Spotted in South Korea
A sign for the much-rumored iPhone 9 was spotted outside a Korean Telcom’s store, alongside the Samsung Galaxy S20.
Wacom Tablets Track Your Open Apps, Sending the Data to Google
Software engineer Robert Heaton discovered that his Wacom tablet was tracking every app he opened and sending that data to Google Analytics.
I suspect that Wacom doesn’t really think that it’s acceptable to record the name of every application I open on my personal laptop. I suspect that this is why their privacy policy doesn’t really admit that this is what that they do. I imagine that if pressed they would argue that the name of every application I open on my personal laptop falls into one of their broad buckets like “aggregate data” or “technical session information”, although it’s not immediately obvious to me which bucket.
Healthcare Systems Oppose Medical Data Sharing Rules
Epic Systems and about 60 hospitals have signed a letter to oppose rules that would make it easier for patients to obtain and share their medical data.
Kids Need End-to-End Encryption for Protection Against Corporations
In a report from the Financial Times (paywall), a letter signed by 129 non-profits, think tanks, and academics urge Facebook to reconsider encrypting its apps. They use the “think of the children” argument because encryption could enable more child sexual abuse. But Justin Myles Holmes says we should think of the children and enable end-to-end encryption for them, so their data isn’t used and abused by corporations precisely like Facebook.
If we fail to take action now, we risk a world in which unsavory actors – domestic and foreign – have built rich, comprehensive profiles for every one of our children, following the trajectories of their education, home life, consumer habits, health, and on and on. These profiles will then be used to manipulate their behavior not only as consumers, but as voters and participants in all those corners of society which, in order for freedom and justice to prevail, require instead that these kids mature into functional, free-thinking adults.
Apple’s Commitment to Privacy is Going Down the Drain
Vicki Boykis wrote yesterday about Apple’s privacy, current flaws, and how the company should do better (I agree!)
So, here we are, in 2020, with Apple in a bit of a pickle. It’s becoming so big that it’s not prioritizing security. At the same time, it needs to advertise privacy as a key differentiator as consumer tastes change. And, at the same time, it’s about to get canclled [sic] by the FBI, China, and Russia.
And while it’s thinking over all of these things, it’s royally screwing over the consumer who came in search of a respite from being tracked.
WhatsApp Security Flaw Found on Desktop Version
A flaw found in the desktop version of WhatsApp lets third-parties access your file system on macOS and Windows.
S Woz on S Jobs, Streaming Signature Shows – TMO Daily Observations 2020-02-05
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Woz’s chat about Steve Jobs, and John’s ranking of streaming shows.
Universal App Purchases Coming to iOS, macOS
Starting in March 2020, universal app purchases are coming to iOS and macOS. Apps bought on one platform will be unlocked on the other.
MosaLingua Language Learning Fluency Bundle Lifetime Subscription: $99
We have a deal on MosaLingua, an all-in-one platform for learning the most useful words and expressions in the language of your choice, practicing language immersion, and improving your language skills with numerous different resources. A lifetime subscription to MosaLingua is $99 through our deal.
iCloud.com on a Mobile Browser is Now Much Better
iCloud.com on mobile browsers has had a bit of an overhaul 9to5Mac noticed that it has improved on both iOS and Android.
Reported by News Landed, native browser support for iCloud.com on iPhone and notably Android has a landing page with support for Photos, Notes, Reminders, and Find iPhone (interesting enough, not Find My). On iPad and likely other tablets, you get native mobile browser support for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Photos, iCloud Drive, Notes, Reminders, Find Friends, and Find iPhone. Notably, on iPad it is natively pulling up the desktop site when visiting iCloud.com. On iPhone, requesting the desktop site doesn’t change anything from the new native iCloud.com experience with the four apps that are currently supported.