We finally have the winner of our iPhone 16 Pro international giveaway! Congratulations to Oliver T., and a huge thank you to everyone who participated.
iPhoneography Tips, iCloud sync vs Backup – TMO Daily Observations 2020-02-19
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss some tips for improving your iPhone photos, and a reminder that iCloud sync is not a backup.
SurfShark VPN 2-Year Subscription: $69
We have a deal on a 2-year subscription to SurfShark VPN. This service features unlimited data, military-grade AES-256-GCM encryption, and IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocols. The company also has a no logging policy. Two years with SurfShark is $69 through our deal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_93KzDGmCI
If Jeff Bezos Really Wants to Help Fight Climate Change, He Should Look at His Own Company
This week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced he was donating $10 billion to help fight climate change. Wired science editor Matt Reynold’s suggests he might want to look closer to home if he’s serious about making a difference.
While Bezos has – belatedly – stepped-up to the plate with big gestures of climate support, this shouldn’t distract from the more mundane ways that Amazon continues to avoid its climate responsibility. A 2019 investigation from Greenpeace found that in Virginia – where Amazon houses the core of its cloud infrastructure – the firm’s data centres were powered by only 12 per cent renewable energy.
New Microsoft Office App Available to Download
Today Microsoft announced the public release of its new Microsoft Office app for iOS. It combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a single office suite. It integrates the company’s Lens technology so you can convert images you take with your smartphone into editable Word and Excel documents, scan PDFs, and capture whiteboards with automatic digital enhancements to make the content easier to read. But you can also make quick notes, sign PDFs, scan QR code’s, and transfer your files between devices. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)
Is iOS Really Adware? Not yet.
iOS is adware for Apple’s services, according to Tumblr software engineer Steve Streza. William Gallagher of AppleInsider, does not agree, at least for now.
The key part though, is in the argument that iOS is nothing more than adware. The argument turns on the words “nothing more,” and it turns both ways. On the pro-Apple side, “nothing more” is practically an insult because iOS is so very much more than an advert platform. However, on the anti-Apple side, disputing the phrase “nothing more” means accepting that iOS is at least a little like adware. But we are in a world where waiting 6 seconds before we can skip a YouTube ad feels a long time. And speaking of which, you try persuading YouTube that you will never want its Music service, or that you’re fine without music continuing after you’e left a tab. Apple is doing what you would, too, and it’s probably doing what it must. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, but the notion that everything is over, iOS is just adware now, is pointless hyperbole.
Apple Seeks to Stop Distribution of 'App Store Confidential' Book
Apple is taking legal action against a former employee behind a tell-all book who used to manage the App Store in Germany.
Adobe Celebrates Photoshop’s 30th Anniversary With Updates
Adobe launched Photoshop 30 years ago in 1990, and it’s celebrating with updates to Photoshop for iPad and Mac.
Apple Reopening 10 More Stores in China
Apple is set to reopen 10 of its retail outlets outside of Beijing today, which were closed following the Coronavirus outbreak.
Onelink Safe & Sound Now Supports AirPlay 2
First Alert’s Onelink Safe & Sound now supports AirPlay 2. The device is a combination of smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector, and speaker.
Larry Tesler, Legendary Apple Employee Behind Cut, Copy, And Paste Passes Away Aged 74
Former, Apple employee Larry Tesler, who invented Cut, Copy and Paste and co-founded Arm, passed away on February 17, aged 74.
IRS Sues Facebook for $9 Billion Over Offshore Profits
The IRS is suing Facebook for US$9 billion, saying the company kept profits in subsidiaries based in Ireland.
The IRS argues that Facebook understated the value of the intellectual property it sold to an Irish subsidiary in 2010 while building out global operations, a move common among U.S. multinationals…Under the arrangement, Facebook’s subsidiaries pay royalties to the U.S.-based parent for access to its trademark, users and platform technologies. From 2010 to 2016, Facebook Ireland paid Facebook U.S. more than $14 billion in royalties and cost-sharing payments, according to the court filing.
If the IRS succeeds this would be one of Facebook’s biggest fines.
Filmage Screen Screen Editor and Video Editor for Mac: $29.99
We have a deal on Filmage Screen, an all-in-one video app for the Mac. It features an integrated screen recorder, basic audio recorder, professional video editor, useful video converter and video player to let you handle your videos once for all.
ISPs Sue Maine, Saying Privacy Law Violates Their Free Speech
ISPs are suing Maine over a privacy law that will go into effect this July, saying it violates their free speech rights. The law would force them to obtain user consent before collecting and selling their data.
Stock Market School, AAPL Style – TMO Daily Observations 2020-02-18
Bryan joins host Kelly to chat about Apple’s updated guidance, what guidance is, why it matters, and what exactly this update means for Apple stock.
Apple Pencil May Include a Grip-Monitoring Haptic System in The Future
Future versions of the Apple Pencil may include a haptic system that will monitor the user’s grip. That’s according to AppleInsider, who noticed a recently granted patent.
In a patent granted by the USPTO to Apple on Tuesday titled “Touch-based input device with haptic feedback,” the filing details how a system could be used to perform two jobs: providing haptic feedback to the user, while also being able to read force measurements from the user’s grip. Apple’s proposal involves the use of a piezoelectric device attached to the inside of the housing, one that would be connected to the user grip region of the housing. The grip section would be deformable, both inwards and outwards, allowing it to be used for providing information to the user as well as taking in grip data. The piezoelectric device would theoretically push out the housing in the grip region when it needs to alert the user via haptic feedback.
Wait? Could HQ Trivia Come Back?!
HQ Trivia may live-on according to the CEO, despite the collapse of the company behind the live game-show app.
Smartphones Could Help Death Photography Make a Comeback
The New York Times has a piece today about death photography, and how it’s returning with the help of our ubiquitous smartphone camera.
“But we are returning to the older ways,” she went on, “a movement backward that some say began in the ’70s, with the back-to-nature movement and midwifery and natural births. The natural death movement is part of that. And these photos are unsurprising, too, because we carry our smartphones all the time, and it’s almost like if there isn’t a photo it didn’t happen. Now everyone is a photographer.”
watchOS 6.1.3 Fixes a Bug for Watch Owners in Iceland
Apple has released watchOS 6.1.3 that fixes a bug for Apple Watch owners in Ireland. There’s also a watchOS 5.3.5 update for iOS 12 users.
Apple Maps Transit Directions Comes to Europe
Apple Maps transit directions are starting to appear in the app for European users, like in France, Ireland, and Norway.
Apple Leverages iOS for Advertising You Can’t Block
Tumblr software engineer Steve Streza makes the case that iOS is adware for all of Apple’s services.
iOS 13 has an abundance of ads from Apple marketing Apple services, from the moment you set it up and all throughout the experience. These ads cannot be hidden through the iOS content blocker extension system. Some can be dismissed or hidden, but most cannot, and are purposefully designed into core apps like Music and the App Store. There’s a term to describe software that has lots of unremovable ads: adware, which what iOS has sadly become.
This particularly annoys me with Apple News, where roughly half the space is dedicated to showing me News+ content, even though I don’t subscribe. On iOS you can swipe to “See Less Often” but you can’t do this on iPad.
How Jeff Bezos Built a Data Collecting Empire
BBC News published an inside look into “Why Amazon knows so much about you.”
“They happen to sell products, but they are a data company,” says James Thomson, one of the former executives interviewed.
“Each opportunity to interact with a customer is another opportunity to collect data.”
Founder Jeff Bezos frames it in terms of being a “customer obsession”, saying the firm’s first priority is to “figure out what they want, what’s important to them”.
Jeff Bezos Pledges $10 Billion to Help Fight Climate Change
Jeff Bezos said on Monday that he will contribute $10 billion in the fight against climate change, Yahoo Finance reported. Not so long ago, the Amazon founder was accused of being stingy after he donated $690,000 towards relief efforts following the Australian wildfires.
The Amazon (AMZN) CEO announced the launch on Instagram, asserting humans can save the Earth by using an inclusive approach that combines the efforts and resources of all stakeholders. “We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation-states, global organizations, and individuals,” the post stated. “I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together.” Bezos, who has a net worth of $130 billion, is no stranger to the climate change fight. In September 2019, the Amazon founder announced: “The Climate Pledge,” which stated that the retail behemoth’s ultimate goal is to become carbon-neutral by 2040.
Apple Will Miss Q2 2020 Revenue Guidance Following Coronavirus Outbreak
Apple announced that the coronavirus outbreak is limiting supply and sales in China, meaning it will miss its revenue guidance for Q1 2020.
TMO Contributor John Kheit (#4) - TMO Background Mode Interview
John Kheit is a New York attorney and a regular contributor to The Mac Observer. We share many common interests, including the 4K/UHD/HDR TV revolution, 8K TV and displays, Wi-Fi/5G technologies and the state of Apple.
In this special edition, I interview John about his new 2019 Mac Pro. I asked John about the configuration he ordered, what substitutions he made (graphics card), his add-on SSD, and whether he bought the Pro Display XDR. John shared lots of technical tidbits: a changed initial order, his total outlay, details of the T2 security chip, the various kinds (layer configurations) of SSDs, his display setup and observations about the cooling system. If you’re planning to purchase a new Mac Pro, this conversation is essential listening.