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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Articles by Charlotte Henry

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Google Maps Will Provide 'Eco-Friendly' Routes to Drivers

Charlotte Henry ·

Google Maps is to provide an ‘eco-friendly’ route to drivers by default, Reuters reported. Further upgrades to make comparing transit options are also on the way.

Unless users opt out, the default route will be the “eco-friendly” one if comparable options take about the same time, Google said. When alternatives are significantly faster, Google will offer choices and let users compare estimated emissions. “What we are seeing is for around half of routes, we are able to find an option more eco-friendly with minimal or no time-cost tradeoff,” Russell Dicker, a director of product at Google, told reporters on Monday. Google said it derives emissions relative estimates by testing across different types of vehicles and road types, drawing on insights from the U.S. government’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). Road grade data comes from its Street View cars as well as aerial and satellite imagery. The potential effect on emissions from the feature is unclear.

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TMO's Charlotte Henry on MacVoices #21060 With Chuck Joiner

Charlotte Henry ·

Part two of the episode of MacVoices with Chuck Joiner featuring The MacObserver‘s UK Associate Editor and host of the Media+ podcast Charlotte Henry is now available to view. The discussion looks at how tech and politics affect each other. There is also a look at what Amazon securing Thursday Night Football means for sports and streaming. (Spoiler alert, Apple TV+ should still look at getting into sports.) Part one of the conversation, which focussed on the Media+ podcast, is also available to view.

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iPhone 13 : Orange is Not The New Black

Charlotte Henry ·

Whether it’s clothing or iPhones, I generally stick to variations of black, grey, and white. (I got a Blue iPhone XR – a major step forward for me – before retreating back into my comfort zone with the darker )!) Forbes contributor David Phelan appears to be a big fan of brightly-colored devices though. He was disappointed that Max Weinbach and Filip Koroy from Everything Apple Pro have said an orange iPhone 13 is unlikely.

However, it almost always saves its brighter colors for the regular rather than the Pro. And Apple has come very close to an orange iPhone already in the shape of the iPhone XR in coral, which had a lobster-orange look to it. Anyway, if the thought of a matte-finish orange iPhone appeals to you as much as it does me—and, to be clear, it appeals to me a lot—then before we go any further I should tell you: it’s not coming. According to Weinbach, although it reached a certain stage in the production process, it’s unlikely to make it to launch. Well, I’m taking heart that that’s not a definite no, but it seems my hopes for an orange iPhone are currently doomed.

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Apple Faces Case Alleging Discrimination Against South Asian Engineer

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple is facing a discrimination lawsuit brought by an Indian female engineer. She alleges that her two managers, one of whom was from India, the other from Pakistan, discriminated against her, Bloomberg News reported. It comes at a time of increasing focus on how Silicon Valley firms treat South Asian employees.

The woman’s case in California state court is the latest to allege workplace bias in Silicon Valley that focuses on cultural prejudices of some tech workers from South Asia. Cisco Systems Inc. is fighting a suit brought by California’s civil rights agency alleging bias against a member of India’s so-called lower castes, known as Dalits. Anita Nariani Schulze is part of the Sindhi minority — she is Hindu, with ancestry in the Sindh region of what is now Pakistan. Her complaint alleges that her senior and direct managers, both male, consistently excluded her from meetings while inviting her male counterparts, criticized her, micromanaged her work, and deprived her of bonuses, despite positive performance evaluations and significant team contributions. Schulze claims the managers’ animus reflects sexism, racism, religious bias and discrimination on the basis of national origin. The Sindhi Hindu nationality is “known for its technical acumen” and its gender equality, she says, which “exacerbated the managers’ discriminatory treatment.”

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iPad Helps Australian Primary School Drive Innovation And Creativity, Navigate COVID-19 Pandemic

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has revealed the story of an Australian primary school that put technology, particularly iPad, at the heart of its work to keep students engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. St Therese Catholic Primary School in Sadleir Miller has students from 50 different cultures, 73 percent of whom are from non-English-speaking backgrounds and three-quarters of whom have English as their second language. Principal Michelle McKinnon explained how years of integrating technology helped drive innovation and creativity amongst her students, as well as guide them through the pandemic.

“The creativity of our students really hit us — they were so clever at sharing what they’d learned,” says McKinnon. “Students shared their own passions and interests more freely in the remote setting, revealing previously undiscovered talents and strengths.” A self-directed learning program invited children to showcase their talents by selecting their own research topics while they studied at home. Using Keynote, iMovie, Pages, Text to Speech, and stop-motion animation, students shared their findings on subjects as wide-ranging as the Great Barrier Reef, painter Vincent van Gogh, and disease prevention in horses. During lockdown, students used the Seesaw app to create digital schoolwork portfolios and share them with teachers. These proved so popular with students, teachers, and families that they are now standard practice at St Therese.

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Reasons Why Developers Prefer Testing on iOS

Charlotte Henry ·

There are a variety of reasons why many developers prefer to launch and test their apps on iOS instead of Android. Screenrant broke down some of them, including the benefits of the greater control and uniformity found in Apple’s system.

There are many reasons why developers tend to prefer iOS over Android with a commonly suggested one being that iOS users are more likely to spend on apps than Android users. However, the locked down user base is a far more basic and important reason from the developer perspective. With iOS, developers gain access to a significant number of users and on a limited number of devices. This combination lends itself very well to apps that are still in an early and beta testing state. Essentially, the level of control developers have over the iOS experience is far greater than with Android, and that’s likely to make a significant difference when deciding which operating system to launch on first.

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Connect DMs Turns Slack Into a Fully-Powered Messaging App

Charlotte Henry ·

Slack, the increasingly popular update, has launched a new system that allows all users to privately message each other (T&Cs apply). Protocol outlined how it is trying to be the go-to destination fo all business communications.

The new system is called Connect DMs, and works a bit like the messaging apps and buddy lists of old: Users send an invite to anyone via their work email address, and once the recipient accepts their new contact is added to their Slack sidebar. The conversations are tied to the users’ organizations, but exist in a separate section of the Slack app itself. Connect DMs turns Slack from an app for chatting with co-workers into an app for chatting with anyone. It puts Slack on par with both enterprise tools like Microsoft Teams and free consumer services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. “When someone opens up their phone,” said Ilan Frank, Slack’s VP of product, “if they’re connecting with their friends, they click on Facebook or WhatsApp. If they’re connecting with someone they work with, regardless of where that person works, they should be clicking on Slack.”

[Update March 25: Slack Has to Reverse Course on Connect DMs Feature After Harassment Concerns]

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Mac OS X is 20 Years Old Today

Charlotte Henry ·

On March 24, 2001, Apple launched Mac OS X. MacRumors has a really nice summary of the profound shift that came about following the arrival of ‘Cheetah’, and how it transformed both Apple and how we use its products.

Mac OS X was introduced at the January 2000 Apple keynote at the Macworld Expo. Steve Jobs at the time said that Mac OS X would “delight consumers with its simplicity and amaze professionals with its power.” He also said it was the “most important software” from Apple since the original 1984 Macintosh operating system. The Aqua interface introduced the now well-known Dock for easy access to applications and documents, plus it included Apple’s revamped Finder for file management. And, of course, Aqua was most well-known for its iconic look, which included translucent scroll bars and buttons. Other features included advanced power management to let iBooks and PowerBooks wake from sleep instantly, dynamic memory management, and Apple’s Quartz 2D graphics engine for “stunning graphics” and broader font support. It came with QuickTime 5, iMovie 2, iTunes, and AppleWorks (Apple’s productivity software at the time).

 

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Facebook's Content Moderation Rules Revealed

Charlotte Henry ·

Facebook has public guidelines, but the advice on which content moderators base their decisions is a closely guarded secret. The Guardian, however, has got hold of a copy of the 300-page document. It goes into minute detail, including  dictating which emojis count as “praise” or “condemnation.”

A particular area of contention surrounds what are defined as dangerous individuals and organisations. In the leaked documents dating from December 2020, moderators for Facebook and Instagram are instructed how to define “support” for terrorist groups and other “dangerous individuals”, whether to distinguish between “explaining” and “justifying” the actions of terrorists, and even in what contexts it is acceptable to call for the use of “gas chambers”. While Facebook’s community guidelines – once almost entirely hidden from the view of users – have been public since 2018 when it first laid out in a 27-page document what it does and does not allow on its site, these newly leaked documents are different. They constitute much more detailed guidelines on what the published rules mean in practice. Facebook has long argued that to publish the full documents would be counterproductive since it would let malicious users avoid a ban for deliberately borderline behaviour.

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Making The Case For The Apple TV

Charlotte Henry ·

Over on AppleInsider, Neil Hughes has put forward the case for defense for the Apple TV. He also suggested some different directions the device could be taken in. It works nicely alongside Tuesday’s episode of Media+!

If the Apple TV is to ever be promoted from its “hobby” status, that probably means that Apple would need to enhance and grow the product lineup with more options. So perhaps that means it employs a few of the potential outcomes outlined above, allowing the company to hit various price points and needs. It’s not difficult to envision a premium Apple TV with soundbar and/or built-in Siri smart home capabilities, being sold alongside an inexpensive $50 stick with access to the tvOS App Store limited to streaming apps. And perhaps in the middle there could be a gaming-focused model, shipping with a controller but not focusing on the extraneous voice and smart home controls that gamers might not care about.