Charlotte Henry

There has been increased talk of Apple making a foldable iPhone in the near(ish) future. Writing for Inc. Jason Aten said that he doesn’t expect such a device anytime soon, but that it should happen.

In the case of a foldable device, Apple is actually uniquely suited to building something that both makes sense and actually works. Unlike Samsung or Microsoft or Android, Apple makes both the software and the hardware and is very good at both.  And, Apple has clearly been working on the hardware. The company was awarded patents as far back as 2017 for “electronic devices with flexible displays.” As far as software, Apple’s advantage is that it can tailor the experience to whatever device it decides to build. I actually think there’s room for a device that fits into your pocket, but still unfolds into something you can use for more than just scrolling through your Twitter or Instagram feed. Honestly, the Z Fold2 was a great device for reading, consuming content, dealing with emails, sending messages, and even video chat. The Duo was even more interesting, especially because of how well made it was, and how thin its overall form factor.

Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that banned transactions with eight Chinese apps, Reuters reported. Those barred included Alipay.

The order argues that the United States must take “aggressive action” against developers of Chinese software applications to protect national security. It tasks the Commerce Department with defining which transactions will be banned under the directive within 45 days and targets Tencent Holdings Ltd’s QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay as well. The order also names CamScanner, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate which is published by Alibaba Group subsidiary UCWeb, and Beijing Kingsoft Office Software’s WPS Office. “By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,” the executive order states.

More than 80,000 UK-registered .eu websites and related emails have stopped working following the completion of Britain’s departure from the EU, Computing reported. It is as a result of rules that state EU rules an .eu domain can only be held by a citizen or organization located within the block.

The EU also ruled that any British .eu domain holder who shifted their domain’s registration address from a UK address to somewhere in the EU would be eligible to retain the domain. Brits who failed to do that would have their domains suspended from 1^st January 2021 to 31^st March 2021 – as has now happened… On 2^nd January 2021, the registry manager delivered its third Brexit notice to UK registrants, telling them that their .eu domain was no longer compliant with the .eu regulatory framework and has been moved to “SUSPENDED” status until 31st March 2021. According to EURid, a suspended domain can no longer support any service (such as website and email), but its registrar can still reinstate it after updating the registration data.

Microsoft is building a universal Outlook client that will work across both Windows and Mac, Windows Central reported.  Currently named ‘Project Monarch’, it will replace default Mail & Calendar apps on Windows 10.

Project Monarch is the end-goal for Microsoft’s “One Outlook” vision, which aims to build a single Outlook client that works across PC, Mac, and the Web. Right now, Microsoft has a number of different Outlook clients for desktop, including Outlook Web, Outlook (Win32) for Windows, Outlook for Mac, and Mail & Calendar on Windows 10. Microsoft wants to replace the existing desktop clients with one app built with web technologies. The project will deliver Outlook as a single product, with the same user experience and codebase whether that be on Windows or Mac. It’ll also have a much smaller footprint and be accessible to all users whether they’re free Outlook consumers or commercial business customers.

Apple has added a number of “goal-setting workouts’ to Fitness+, MacRumors reported. It’s part of a new weekly series designed to help users stay motivated and on track with their training. More Music playlists have been added too.

A new introductory video can be found on the main Fitness+ page in the Fitness app, where trainer Kim highlights what’s new in the subscription service this week and points users to the new Ring in the New Year Limited Edition Activity Challenge that can be found on their Apple Watch… In the video, Kim picks out two workouts in particular that offer goal-setting motivations, including a 20-minute strength workout and a 10-minute HIIT workout, and should help users bag the Ring in the New Year Challenge award, which can be earned by closing all three rings for seven days in a row.