Movies Anywhere is adding a new feature called Screen Pass that lets you temporarily share your movies with others.
LA-Based Apple Staffer Tests Positive for COVID-19
Apple confirmed that a staff member at its Culver City office had tested positive for coronavirus. The affected staff member is currently self-isolating, Variety reported.
“A team member in our Culver City office has informed us they tested positive for COVID-19. The individual had no symptoms when they were last in the office, and remains in self isolation at home,” a rep for Apple said in a statement. “We recognize this is a challenging time for our global community and our thoughts remain with those around the world personally affected by COVID-19 and the heroic medical professionals and researchers fighting it.” The office remains open, although Apple CEO Tim Cook said last week the company had asked employees to work from home if their position allows while the company “deep cleans” its offices.
Apple Amongst Tech Firms Facing ITC Patent Probe
The U.S. ITC has opened an investigation into Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech firms over potential patent violations.
Financial Companies Expose 425 GB of Data in Insecure Database
Researchers found an insecure database thought to have belonged to Advantage Capital Funding and Argus Capital Funding. It contained over 500,000 records of personal and professional information.
Shadowserver Keeps the Web Safe. Now it Needs Help
A small nonprofit organization called Shadowserver helps keep the web safe. It scans almost the entire internet to create activity reports for network operators. It also hosts a database of 1.2 billion malware samples, freely accessible to everyone. But it needs to raise money to stay in operation.
For more than 15 years, Shadowserver has been funded by Cisco as an independent organization. But thanks to budget restructuring, the group now has to go out on its own. Rather than seek a new benefactor, founder Richard Perlotto says the goal is for Shadowserver to become a fully community-funded alliance that doesn’t rely on any one contributor to survive. The group needs to raise $400,000 in the next few weeks to survive the transition, and then it will still need $1.7 million more to make it through 2020…
I had never heard of Shadowserver but it’s clear the organization is important. You can become a sponsor to donate money here.
![[UPDATE] Apple Closes Stores, Suspends TV+ Production, Due to COVID-19 Outbreak](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/coronavirus.jpg)
[UPDATE] Apple Closes Stores, Suspends TV+ Production, Due to COVID-19 Outbreak
Apple Stores have been closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with TV+ production also suspended.
NBCUniversal Makes New Movies Available for Download
To combat financial losses from movie theaters shutting down due to the pandemic, NBCUniversal is making brand new movies available to download.
No, Apple Isn’t Going to Buy Disney
Disney stock is dropping and analysts like Bernie McTernan from Rosenblatt Securities think that tech giants like Apple should consider buying it.
We believe those with long-time horizons, like mega-cap companies with large cash balances and whose equity outperformed Disney over the last three weeks, like Apple, could take advantage of the volatility. The upside from acquiring Disney would be securing their content/streaming strategy and potential synergies from adding the emerging Disney ecosystem to the iOS platform.
Apple could also look into buying a private island, renaming it Island+, and forming its own country. I don’t know about you but sign me up for a squircle-shaped house.
Social Media Platform ‘MeWe’ Launches Dual-Camera Videos
MeWe, which presents itself as a privacy social network, launched dual-camera videos and a new feature called MeWe Stories.
02 Cellular Network Offering New UK Customers Six-Months Free Disney+
Cellular network 02 is offering new and upgrading UK customers six-months of Disney+ for free when it launches there next week.
'iPhone 12' With 'A14' Processor May be as Fast as iPad Pro
It appears that the much-rumored ‘iPhone 12’ could be as fast as an iPad Pro. That’s according to Geekbench scores for the potential ‘A14’ processor, uncovered by AppleInsider.
It is expected that the “iPhone 12” will have improved performance, and these scores show massive gains year-over-year. Apple has been seeing huge gains in their chipsets despite the rest of the industry hitting a bit of a performance wall. New Geekbench testing, discovered by AppleInsider purporting to be from the A14 processor shows the first A-series processor to cross the 3.0 GHz mark. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro has an A12X chipset with 8 cores and scores 1110 on a single core, and 4568 on the multi-core. The scores for the alleged A14 go beyond even that.
Focus - Website and Application Blocker for MacOS Unlimited Plan: $29.99
We have a deal on Focus for Mac, a website and application blocker designed to help you stay on task. Focus sits in your menu-bar and helps you block distracting websites, domains, or apps. It also features schedules and timers, password protection, productivity stats, BASH scripting support, and more. An Unlimited Plan is $29.99 through our deal, but there are also less expensive plans called Productivity and Professional.
R.E.M. 'It's The End of the World' Enters iTunes Top 100
The R.E.M classic It’s End of the World As We Know It has entered the iTunes top 100 for the first time, 33 years after it was released, according to data from Pop Vortex. When the New York Daily News reported on the data on Friday the track was at number 73 in the chart. On Monday, it was up at number 39.
The spike in the 1987 song’s popularity likely comes in the wake of the World Health Organization declaring that the menacing coronavirus spread has reached pandemic levels. The tune, which name-checks the likes of cultural icons Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnev, rock critic Lester Bangs and conductor Leonard Bernstein, was positioned at No. 73 Friday evening — just a shade below its Billboard Hot 100 peak of No. 69 in 1987. The single was downloaded more times than Lizzo’s “Good as Hell,” “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez and even Taylor Swift’s “The Man,” according to Pop Vortex.
Apple Fined by France, Powerbeats 4 – TMO Daily Observations 2020-03-16
Bryan Chaffin and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss a French authority fining Apple over inventory, and the new Powerbeats 4 appealing to Charlotte for, frankly, not being AirPods.
TikTok Censors Posts by People it Deems Ugly or Poor
Chinese app TikTok told its moderators to censor posts from users deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled.
…according to internal documents obtained by The Intercept. These same documents show moderators were also told to censor political speech in TikTok livestreams, punishing those who harmed “national honor” or broadcast streams about “state organs such as police” with bans from the platform.
Apple Dominates Greatest Designs of Modern Times List
Apple featuress heavily a new 100 greatest designs of modern times list recently released by Fortune. The iPhone came out on top, with the Mac and iPod also in the top 10.
With regards to No. 1 on our list, Apple’s iPhone, respondents did not speak so much to its physical design—as handsome as its various iterations have been—but to the way in which the device has transformed human communication and nearly every aspect of how we live. “Not only an instant way to be constantly connected,” said Kathleen Brandenburg of design consultancy IA Collaborative, of the device, “but a flexible, ever-evolving design that becomes whatever each user wants it to be.”
Apple Extends Device Return Period Over Store Closures
Apple published an FAQ that answers questions customers may have after Apple closed all retail stores due to the coronavirus.
Powerbeats 4 Coming Soon for $149
Beats made it official: New Powerbeats 4 headphones are coming soon for US$149 with an increase in battery life and the H1 chip.
Apple Receives €1.1 Billion Fine From French Competition Authority
Apple received a €1.1 billion fine from the French competition authority, the largest it has ever handed out to one firm.
‘The Uncensored Library’ Bypasses Censorship in Minecraft
Reporters Without Borders created The Uncensored Library inside of Minecraft as a way to bypass censorship.
Anyone can download the necessary map, and Minecraft‘s nature makes it easy to host another server if an oppressive country tries to take one down.
Hopefully all of us sharing news about it doesn’t kill it faster.
Catalina Nonplussed By HFS – Mac Geek Gab 806
Do you want a dock with more USB-C ports? If so, why? John and Dave have some ideas for you. How should you best manage your USB-C-powered devices? Or what if you need a backup internet connection with your cell phone? These questions, plus more questions, plus some Cool Stuff Found, plus your Quick Tips round out the episode. We know… it’s a lot! That’s what it takes to learn five new things each week together, isn’t it?
Blocs 3 Website Builder for Mac: $39.99
We have a deal on Blocs 3 Website Builder for Mac a fast, easy-to-use, and powerful visual web design software that lets you create responsive websites without writing code. This app works on the concept of stacking pre-defined sections to build fully-coded web pages. The promo video shows Blocs in action. Blocs 3 is $39.99 through our deal.
Security Friday, WWDC 2020 – TMO Daily Observations 2020-03-13
Charlotte Henry and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the new look for WWDC and Security Friday’s headlines and tips.
YouTube Replacing 'Trending' Tab With 'Explore'
YouTube is replacing its ‘Trending’ tab with a new ‘Explore’ one, Gizmodo reported. The feature was tested for nearly two years, and will now roll out across both iOS and Android.
It appears YouTube will feature videos in those destination pages based on content it already knows you like. When I click the gaming section, for example, I see videos about Age of Empires 2, Teamfight Tactics, and clips from gaming channels I’m already subscribed to. So in a sense, destination pages are just a more targeted place to check out videos for stuff you already like, and maybe find new content that YouTube’s algorithm thinks you might enjoy. YouTube says it plans to continue adding new destination pages in the future, and while the initial lineup looks decent, there are a couple major topics, like sports, that didn’t make the roster.