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Netflix Moving Into Games is a New Challenge For Apple

Charlotte Henry ·

Netflix announced the hiring of Mike Verdu as vice president of game development, on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported. The potential move into this new area increases the competition between the streamer and Apple, with its Arcade service.

Video games give Netflix another way to lure new customers and also offer something none of its direct competitors currently provides. Walt Disney Co., AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia and Amazon.com Inc. all have access to live sports, but they don’t have gaming within their main video services. Ultimately, the move may make it easier for Netflix to justify price increases in coming years. Games also serve the purpose of helping market existing shows. Many of the largest tech companies do sell gaming options in addition to their video services. Apple Inc. has a platform called Arcade for games — as well as a TV+ service for original video projects. But it charges extra for the gaming.

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Spotify’s Top Lawyer Leads the Monopoly Campaign Against Apple

Andrew Orr ·

Spotify’s top lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, is a key player in the monopoly accusations against Apple.

The landscape looks a lot different than it did when Gutierrez first began talking about Apple. His actions “have spawned a lot of the other Apple-related activity across the globe,” says Thomas Vinje, who’s worked with Gutierrez on antitrust issues in Europe. “It’s a snowball Spotify got rolling.”

Image credit: Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

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It's Never 69 Degrees on the Apple Weather App

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple’s native Weather app won’t ever give the temperature as 69 degrees, The Verge reported. Yes, it’s worth a giggle, bu there’s a couple of explanations as to why this might be.

It’s not clear if this is a bug or an intentional attempt from Apple to cut down on 69-related humor. The rounding is only visible in the weather app itself: clicking through to Apple’s source data from Weather.com will show the proper temperature, as do Apple’s home screen widgets. But the iOS weather app will refuse to show 69 degrees anywhere in the forecast, whether it’s for the current temperature, the hourly forecast for the day, or the extended forecast. A possible explanation for the issue (as pointed out by several people on Twitter) is that Apple may be sourcing data for its iOS Weather app in Celsius and then converting it to Fahrenheit. For example, 20 degrees Celsius converts to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, while 21 degrees Celsius converts to 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit — which rounds up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The app appears to have similar issues with temperatures like 65 degrees (where 18 degrees Celsius converts to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit, while 19 degrees Celsius is 66.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Apple PRODUCT(RED)Proceeds Going to COVID-19 Relief Throughout 2021

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple is to continue donating 100 percent of proceeds from its PRODUCT(RED) to COVID-19 relief until December 30, 2021. The decision was outlined in an announcement on its website, spotted by 9to5 Mac.

Last year, Apple extended this COVID-19 relief effort until June 30, 2021. As vaccines are slowly rolling out across the globe and new variants of the disease have been discovered, this fund is more important than ever. Apple updated its PRODUCT (RED) page in the US and around the world to note that all donations from sales of its PRODUCT(RED) lineup that normally go to helping fight HIV/AIDS will be temporarily redirected to pandemic relief (which will actually help keep HIV/AIDS programs alive). In April of 2020, Apple and (RED) starting giving a portion of eligible proceeds to the Global Fund for COVID-19 relief but now it’s being bumped to 100% for about six months.

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Windows 11: What Apple Can Learn From Microsoft's Upcoming OS

Charlotte Henry ·

Microsoft recently unveiled Windows 11. With the first test builds now available, Mac user Parker Ortolani decided to give it try for 9to5Mac and see if there is anything Apple can learn from it.

Windows has never looked “beautiful.” It’s always been a mashup of different eras going back to the ’90s with some paint on the surface. Windows 10 did a nice job of covering up some of the mess and it made the OS more usable. But Windows 11’s biggest feature by far is its new design language that extends across the system. It’s still familiar and recognizable as Windows, but it feels like they really care about the way this operating system looks and feels in a way they haven’t before. The company has implemented a fresh new look for the task bar and the start menu. Icons have fun new playful animations, and many also have a new look with more personality and depth. The default wallpapers included in Windows 11 complement the new taskbar really nicely as well.

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‘Best days’ For Both Mac and iPad Still to Come, says Analyst

Charlotte Henry ·

The “best days” for both the Mac and iPad may still be ahead. That’s according to a new analysis from Loup Ventures, seen by AppleInsider.

Loup Ventures cofounder and analyst Gene Munster recently analyzed Mac and iPad lead times, or the expected shipment date after an order is placed. Spot checks of estimated order delivery suggest that Apple was correct in its guidance that demand would be supply gated, and not demand-gated. Although the extended lead times are attributable to ongoing chip supply constraints, Munster sees them as a positive indicator of iPad and Mac demand. The analyst believes that both lineups are continuing to see tailwinds from a work-from-home and remote education environment, despite the lifting of stay-at-home orders and other restrictions in many regions.

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Amazon and Apple Most Valuable Brands, but Chinese Firms Closing in

Charlotte Henry ·

Amazon and Apple are still the world’s most valuable brands according to a Kantar Brand Z survey. However, as Reuters noted, Chinese firms are hot on their heels.

“Chinese brands are steadily and slowly progressing, and have made significant headway as more companies leverage their own technological developments and demonstrate their abilities to align with the major trends shaping China and the global market,” said Graham Staplehurst, global strategy director at Kantar BrandZ. Five brands more than doubled their value, led by Chinese e-commerce giants Pinduoduo (PDD.O) and Meituan (3690.HK), China’s top liquor maker Moutai (600519.SS), China’s TikTok and America’s Tesla (TSLA.O). Tesla, founded in 2003, was the fastest growing brand and became the most valuable car brand, growing its value by 275% year-on-year to $42.6 billion, Kantar said.

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This Man Warned Apple About China Years Ago

Andrew Orr ·

Apple hired Doug Guthrie in 2014 to help the company navigate China. But he warned executives of the growing power of Xi Jingping.

Apple, more than any other company, has been vulnerable to the government’s harder line. As a result, over the past several years, Apple has made compromises in China that undercut the values its executives have put at the center of its brand. To placate the authorities and keep its global business running, Apple has put its Chinese customers’ data at risk and aided the Chinese government’s vast censorship operation.