Get into the holiday spirit with our iPhone 16 Pro Max giveaway! Don’t miss your chance to win a brand-new iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Kharbon IP67 Wireless Earbuds: $79
We have a deal on a pair of Kharbon IP67 Wireless Earbuds. They feature support Bluetooth 5.0, and what the company says is 150 hours of battery life. They also have an IP67 waterproof rating. They’re $79 through our deal.
Disney+ Clears 10 Million Subscribers on Day One
Disney+ surpassed 10 million subscribers on its first day, The Verge reported. The app has been downloaded over 3.2 million times, despite tech teething-problems.
The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars show easily considered the crown jewel of Disney’s streaming service, saw north of 2 million streams over the first day, according to people familiar with the matter. That number has more than likely grown due to overnight and second day viewing. By the end of the day, Disney+ was also the top app in the App Store, according to Apptopia. Launching with a bundle — ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu — also helped bump up both apps in app stores, according to Apptopia’s report. Sources familiar with the matter told The Verge that the bundle also saw a notable increase in sign-ups following the launch of Disney+. To put everything into additional context, analysts projected that Disney+ would have anywhere between 10-18 million subscribers in its first year. Disney has signed up more than half of those projected numbers in 24 hours.
Google Will Offer Consumers Checking Accounts
Google is going to partner with banks to start offering checking accounts. Techcrunch reported that the consumer service will begin next year.
The initial financial partners that Google is working with include Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union, and their motivation per the WSJ piece appears to be seeking out and attracting younger and more digital-savvy customers who are increasingly looking to handle more of their lives through online tools. Per Sengupta’s comments, they’ll also benefit from Google’s ability to work with large sets of data and turn those into value-add products, but the Google exec also said the tech company doesn’t use Google Pay data for advertising, nor does it share that data with advertisers.
Phil Schiller Explains How Apple Reinvented The MacBook Pro Keyboard
One of the key complaints about the previous MacBook Pro was the scissor keyboard. Users worldwide have highlighted issues with the famously flimsy keyboard. Apple has tried to fix the issue in the new 16-inch model. The firm’s head of marketing Phil Schiller explained its thinking to CNET.
The challenge, says Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, was taking the best of the Magic Keyboard, an accessory designed for desktop computers such as the upcoming Mac Pro, which launches in December, and adapting and evolving it for the new notebook. “People sometimes underestimate how much work goes into a keyboard, and that’s why most keyboards in the industry don’t change for 10 or 20 years,” Schiller said in an interview. “We decided that while we were advancing the butterfly keyboard, we would also — specifically for our pro customer — go back and really talk to many pro customers about what they most want in a keyboard and did a bunch of research. The team took the time to do the work to investigate, research, explore and reinvent.”
Apple Reveals 16-Inch MacBook Pro
Apple unveiled a new 16” MacBook Pro featuring a Retina Display, a new Magic Keyboard, and the T2 Security Chip.
Disney+ Alters Scene Between Greedo and Han Solo
Disney+ has altered the shoot out scene between Greedo and Han Solo, making this the third alteration over the years.
You can see the footage isn’t as lightened as some previous editions. It does lean on the grainier look used in the 1977 reel, but it is longer overall. That is because an additional bit of dialogue was added to Greedo. Not only does the version make it more difficult to tell whether Greedo shot first, but it sees them shout something at Han Solo before being killed.
Privacytools.io Delists Startpage Over System1
Privacytools.io delists Startpage from its list of privacy tools and services. Startpage had been taken over by Privacy One Group, which itself is owned by System1. System1 is a targeted advertising company with a business model that seemed—to many—to be in conflict with Startpage’s own privacy-centric model.
Because of the conflicting business model and the unusual way the company reacted, claiming to be fully transparent but being evasive at the same time, we have no choice but to de-list Startpage from our recommendations until it is fully transparent about its new ownership and data processing. Remaining questions include…
President Trump Tours Texas With Tim Cook at Apple Facility
President Trump tours Texas at an Apple facility in Texas along with Apple CEO Tim Cook as soon as next week, although no official announcement has been made.
Suspicionless Searches of Travelers' Devices Ruled Unconstitutional
A federal court ruled that suspicionless searches of travelers’ phones and laptops is unconstitutional, a win for privacy rights.
The ruling came in a lawsuit, Alasaad v. McAleenan, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and ACLU of Massachusetts, on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry.
Minecraft Earth Early Access Available for iOS
Minecraft Earth early access is now available for iOS users in the United States. It’s a game that lets players design their creations in AR.
Walmart Adds Siri Option for Walmart Voice Order
Walmart Voice Order lets customers add items to their cart via voice. The company announced a partnership with Apple that includes Siri.
Pandora Podcasts Now Available on Web and Desktop
After being available in its mobile app Pandora Podcasts is launching for Mac and Windows users and also on the web.
Former HBO CEO Richard Plepler Heads to Apple
Richard Plebler, former CEO of HBO who departed the company back in February is in advanced discussions with Apple over a content deal.
504th Military App Could Expose Soldiers’ Data
The 504th military app gives soldiers weather updates, training changes, and other logistics. But its terms of service say it collects a lot of personal data, and if the app was hacked it could potentially expose top-secret information.
The app’s permissions — which suggested it could pull GPS location data, photos, contacts and even rewrite memory cards — frustrated soldiers who have taken extreme precautions they felt were glossed over by Trotter and other senior leaders…The worst-case scenario, he said, was “our cover might be blown.” While the app said permissions could be disabled, the soldiers said there was a failure of confidence it was secure. Senior leaders checked the phones of subordinates to ensure they had the app installed, soldiers in the unit said.
Why it’s especially concerning: “The app developer, Straxis LLC, is based in Tulsa but has a subsidiary in southern India.”
Microsoft Opts in to CCPA, Streaming Services Old & New – TMO Daily Observations 2019-11-12
Andrew Orr & John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Microsoft following CCPA nationwide, and new vs nostalgic streaming content.
Facebook Launches Payment System ‘Facebook Pay’
Today Facebook announced the launch of its consumer payment system. No, it’s not the cryptocurrency ‘Libra.’ Instead it’s Facebook Pay.
GO-TOUGH Reinforced MFi Lightning Cable: $21.24
We have a deal on the GO-TOUGH reinforced MFi Lightning cable. 6.5 feet in length, this cable is made from heavy-duty PET reinforced cable with reinforced stress points for reduced fraying. It’s $24.99 through our deal, but coupon code BFSAVE15 brings it down to $21.24 at checkout.
David Greelish Offers a Sneak Peek of his Apple Lisa Documentary
Computer historian David Greelish directed an Apple Lisa documentary called Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa set to release in early 2020.
2019 Jamf Nation User Conference Shows New Products
Jamf is an Apple IT company and just started its 2019 Jamf Nation User Conference with new product announcements for enterprise.
WordPress Subscriptions Come to Websites
WordPress is adding a feature that will give websites a new way to earn money: WordPress subscriptions via Recurring Payments.
Twitter Wants Users to Help it Finish Deepfakes Policy
Twitter announced proposals for its policy to tackle deepfakes on Monday. Now, The Verge reported, it wants users to help it finish the job.
Late last month, the Twitter Safety team announced it’d be seeking feedback on what a deepfake and synthetic media policy would look like on the platform. In a blog post on Monday referencing that announcement, Twitter vice president of trust and safety Del Harvey wrote that if manipulated media was flagged on the platform, Twitter could end up placing a notice next to it alerting users that it’s been distorted, warning them that it’s false before they share it, or adding context in the form of a link or news article breaking down why others believe that it’s untrue. Twitter could also remove the content, Harvey wrote.
How Apple Became the Most Valuable Public Company Again
Apple’s stock hit a new record high following its recent third-quarter earnings report. The recent Motley Fool podcast discussed how.
It’s all about the services with Apple, at least on the growth side. As you mentioned, the iPhone business, as we’ve talked about, pretty stagnant now. They continue to make really good iPhones. The iPhone 11 is seeing good reception. But revenue up 2%, a little higher than guidance. If you back out the iPhone, growth is up 17%. But really about the wearables. The wearables business continues to drive a lot of the growth on the services side, which includes the wearables. Up 18% on the sales. Now makes up 20% of sales but 33% of the gross profits. They now have 33,000 apps across all the platforms. It was the best quarter ever for AppleCare.
UK Labour Party Hit By DDoS Attack
The UK’s opposition Labour Party was hit by a DDoS attack on Monday night, BBC News reported. The attack came in the midst of a tense General Election campaign.
Labour said the attack “failed” because of the party’s “robust” security system and no data breach had occurred. The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack floods a computer server with traffic to try to take it offline. A Labour source said that attacks came from computers in Russia and Brazil but the BBC’s Gordon Corera has been told the attack was not linked to a state. Our security correspondent said he had been told the attack was a low-level incident – not a large-scale and sophisticated attack. A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said the Labour Party followed the correct procedure and notified them swiftly, adding: “The attack was not successful and the incident is now closed.”
Disney+ Launches in U.S. And Canada
Disney+ has launched in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands, giving subscribers access to a range of Disney-owned content.