Super Micro Computer, the manufacturer of technology accused by Bloomberg of containing Chinese spy chips, has said that it will carry out a review of its own hardware.
This isn’t any kind of admission on its part, however. In a letter to customers, the firm noted how, “Despite the lack of any proof that a malicious hardware chip exists, we are undertaking a complicated and time-consuming review to further address the article.”
Facebook is allegedly planning to take on Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV with a new set top box of its own.
The social network just debuted its new Portal smart speaker earlier this month and according to a new report its smart TV box could pack some similarly creepy features.
After spending upward of $1 billion creating original TV shows, Apple apparently plans to give them away for free. That would certainly be a bold move as Apple muscles into original video production, but it might be the craziest idea ever.
Here are three reasons why it’s a smart strategy — and three more why it could backfire.
It’s not yet clear how much veracity there is to the recent Bloomberg report claiming that companies, including Apple and Amazon, were sold data servers compromised by Chinese spies. However, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators want answers from the manufacturer in question.
In a letter addressed to motherboard supplier Supermicro, senators Marco Rubio and Richard Blumenthal request the answers to eight queries. Here’s what they want to know:
Do you trust Facebook to put a camera and microphone in your living room? If not, you’ll want to avoid Portal, its new smart displays focused on video chat.
Portal and Portal Plus make it easy to keep in touch with friends and family when you can’t see them face-to-face in real life. They can also play music, stream video, and do anything Amazon Alexa can do.
The Department of Homeland Security says that it believes Apple’s denial of claims that Chinese spies had inserted malicious chips into its computer system. Based on current evidence, at least.
Tim Cook fought harder than any other Apple employee to make sure Donald Trump didn’t become president.
A study of all the political donations made by Apple employees found that Tim Cook contributed more than any other employee to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election campaign with a $236,100 payment to the Hillary Victory Fund fundraising committee. Tim’s favoritism towards Democrats isn’t surprising, and the study found that an overwhelming majority of Apple employees are following his lead.
Despite Apple’s denials, it’s “highly plausible” that secret spy chips could have been planted on the company’s servers, said a former Apple hardware engineer.
Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, who spent nearly six years at Apple helping build several generations of iPod, iPhone and Apple Watch, said spy chips could have been slipped into the design of servers used for Apple’s iCloud services, as alleged in a Bloomberg Businessweek story.
“With my knowledge of hardware design, it’s entirely plausible to me,” she said. “It’s very highly plausible to me, and that’s scary if you think about it.”
Update: Apple and Amazon both issued lengthy statements Thursday concerning the Chinese spy chip allegations. We updated this post to include those statements.
Apple denies that Chinese spy chips infiltrated its iCloud server hardware after claims that motherboards used by Apple, Amazon and dozens of other tech companies contained microchips used for surveillance purposes.
Cupertino insists the story is “wrong and misinformed.” Apple also says Chinese spying had nothing to do with the company’s decision to cut ties with a supplier.
Apple has topped Interbrand’s annual list of the Best Global Brands for the sixth consecutive year.
The iPhone-maker, which has seen its brand value increase 16 percent this year, ranked highly in consistency, engagement, and differentiation. It is followed by Google, while Amazon has quickly climbed into third place after its brand value increased an impressive 56 percent.
Tim Cook went on the offensive toward competing companies like Amazon and Google in a new interview tonight on privacy.
Appearing on Vice News Tonight on HBO, the Apple CEO was asked if his company’s stance on privacy is stopping Siri from becoming more competitive with Alexa. Cook pushed back saying any company that says it needs all your data to make its service better is telling you a “bunch of bunk.”
Apple’s VP of software technology, Bud Tribble, made an appearance before the U.S. Senate’s Commerce Committee today to advocate for an overhaul of privacy laws in the country.
During the hearing, Apple was joined by other figures from tech giants like Google, Amazon, Twitter, and others to advise lawmakers on the current state of internet privacy. Tribble told lawmakers that Apple views privacy as a “fundamental human right,” but the company went short of offering solutions.
Two of the biggest companies in the music business are teaming up to try to better take on Spotify and Apple Music.
Sirius XM revealed today that it plans to acquire the music streaming service Pandora in a $3.5 billion all-stock deal. The merger is far from a done deal though and according to a report, Pandora will have the opportunity to find a better deal from another company.
Amazon hosted its annual “secret” event this morning in Seattle where the company unleashed a tidal wave of new Alexa-powered Echo products that are designed to take on pretty much every major tech company in the world.
From its new microwave to a pricey new subwoofer, Amazon has a new product for pretty much everybody at every price point. The event was so action-packed it was hard to keep up with the catalog of new options, but we’ve rounded them all up so you can figure out what Alexa products you should splurge on next.
Check out all these new goodies:
Amazon became the second member of the $1 Trillion Club this morning – then left it after stock prices dipped.
Amazon crossed the threshold at $2050.27, five weeks after Apple was first to reach $1 trillion. By early afternoon, Amazon shares were trading at $2,035.64.
Apple may have pipped Amazon to the post by being the first company to hit $1 trillion (despite some predictions to the contrary), but Amazon has nothing but good things in its future.
According to a new report from MKM Partners, by 2024 — roughly five years from now — Amazon could be valued at a whopping $2.5 trillion. Amazon Web Services alone could, meanwhile, be valued at a whopping $1 trillion, approximately the same valuation Apple holds today.
While brick-and-mortar bookstores have almost disappeared, the number of e-book stores grew today with Walmart throwing its hat into the ring.
This is clearly an attempt to take on arch-rival Amazon in yet another market, but Apple Books is caught in the middle too.
The biggest name in online retail is aiming its sights on putting TiVo out of business next.
Amazon is reportedly developing a new set top box that will allow users to record live TV, providing a way to side-step cable providers when it comes to watching content on-demand.
Apple’s HomePod speaker sales might be weaker than previously estimated by analysts. The latest quarterly research report from Strategy Analytics claims that HomePod sales numbers only totaled 700,000 units.
As if Amazon customers needed yet more to make their Prime subscription worth it, select Prime users can now take advantage of a new curbside grocery pickup feature at their local Whole Foods.
The feature allows users of the Prime Now app to shop online for fresh produce and then, on orders over $35, elect to pick up the packed groceries in store. They can do this within one hour of placing their order — or, for a charge of just $4.99, within 30 minutes.
Competition is heating up between Amazon and Apple, regarding which will pass the trillion dollar valuation mark first. But despite Apple still being ahead to the tune of approximately $949 billion to Amazon’s $888 billion, investors seem to believe that Jeff Bezos’ retail giant will be the one to set the record.
According to a recent survey at the 8th Annual Delivering Alpha Conference in New York, CNBC asked 100 investors which company they thought would set this record first. Amazingly, a whole 70 percent said that Amazon is likely to pip Apple to the post.
Until recently, if you needed to replace a screw, nut or bolt, you’d take a trip to the hardware store. With Amazon’s latest update to its iPhone app, there’s no need.
Part Finder is a new feature of Amazon’s camera search that can identify hundreds of types of screws, nuts, bolts, washers and other fasteners. Once ID’d, they can be bought straight from the app.
Go to your Amazon, Zappos, etc. account now and change the password to something stronger. That’s the takeaway from a cyber security firm’s report that says a whopping 91 percent of all attempts to log into e-commerce websites are from hackers.
Attempts by hackers to log into the sites of airlines, banks, and hotels also account for about half of their traffic.
As the first company in history to pass the $700, $800, and $900 billion marks, Apple has long looked set to become the world’s first ever $1 trillion company. But Amazon is rapidly closing in on it.
This week, Amazon’s stock market value reached $900 billion for the first time. That puts it within spitting distance of the Cupertino tech giant’s current $935 billion. In 2018, Apple’s shares have risen 12 percent, while Amazon’s have shot up dramatically to the tune of 57 percent.
Amazon Prime Day 2018 is here, and Cult of Mac is showcasing the best Prime Day deals for Apple fans. The annual sale kicks off at noon Pacific today, but some deals are already live.
Here are the best ones we’ve found so far.