Brad Gibson - page 4

Apple reports its fiscal second-quarter earnings results Thursday afternoon, and chances are good that Cupertino will be glad to see the first three months of 2020 fade into history.

Having said that, things might not be as bad as many expect due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Oh, there won’t be any record-breaking figures, but there are some pretty good indicators that the news won’t be all doom and gloom.

As is always the case, though, the devil will be in the details. Apple’s conference call after issuing its Q2 2020 earnings report will be even more interesting than the numbers themselves.

A handful of Apple and Google employees turned a novel approach to fighting COVID-19 from a spark of an idea to a pandemic-fighting tool in less than a month. The tech giants combined forces in March, intent on creating a contact-tracing app capable of monitoring the movements of people who might have come in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.

CNBC reported inside details Tuesday on how Apple’s initial contact-tracing project — code-named “Bubble” — went from two employees to dozens, and enlisted the help of others at Google.

Apple has added COVID-19 testing locations throughout the United States to its Apple Maps, effective Tuesday. Users can search for COVID-19 testing locations or browse for them on visual maps.

Multiple companies that created software to hack into mobile phones now offer versions of their products to trace the spread of COVID-19, according to a published report Tuesday.

Very different from contact-tracing technologies that focus on finding the virus but at the same time protect privacy, these new systems would not need a patient’s consent to gain entry into the device.

Since receiving their new 2020 iPhone SE mobile phones on Friday, customers have been reporting the inability to press on notifications in the Notification Center and to select various shortcuts and commands, better known as Haptic Touch. From all indications, it appears the specific inability is deliberate on the new device.

HBO Max will be available on all Apple devices when it launches on May 27 and will be fully integrated with the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV, WarnerMedia announced Monday.

Apple and WarnerMedia also announced that that existing HBO Now customers, billed through the App Store, and HBO subscribers who subscribe through ‌Apple TV‌ channels, will be upgraded to HBO Max at no additional charge.

A side-by-side battery comparison by a popular YouTube channel concludes that for consumers wanting a long-lasting smartphone, the second-generation iPhone SE might not be the best answer.

Facebook announced Friday it will add the ability for free video calling for up to 50 people on its new video-calling service, Messenger Rooms. The change is taking direct aim at the Group FaceTime and the popular Zoom service that has taken the world by storm as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The expanded service will launch by days end in selected regions with a smaller number of users at launch, but will not be available for the maximum number for a few more weeks, the company said. 

Apple reportedly cut orders for its future 5G iPhones with Chinese component makers, fearing a slowdown in orders as a result of what many economists are already calling the beginnings of a global recession. 

Chinese daily technology newspaper Digitimes reported Friday some component suppliers have been told by Apple they will not need as many parts for new iPhones, expected to be released later this year. Other suppliers now say that they too expect a slowdown in orders from the iPhone-maker.

Apple and Google said Friday they are building in stronger privacy protections to their planned contact-tracing system for COVID-19 and that an early version of the initiative will launch for developers next week.

The second-generation iPhone SE began arriving at the front doors of new owners worldwide Friday, even as Apple and carriers began accepting new online orders for the low-cost mobile in selected markets.

Apple and its Apple TV+ streaming service could only dream of numbers this big.

Call it the ‘Tiger King effect’ or whatever you like, but Netflix benefited from the stay-at-home, shelter-in-place directive by adding 15.77 million new subscribers worldwide in the first quarter, according to earnings results released Monday.

Apple TV+ has picked up the shortform adventure series Fraggle Rock: Rock On from the Jim Henson Company and in an unusual move, released the first episode Wednesday with little notice.

Apple and Google have given further details on their plans for a joint contact tracing technology to combat coronavirus, saying the program will focus on privacy, will be voluntary, and that data will only be shared with public health organizations.

The impact of the continuing coronavirus pandemic is starting to show its true colors with an almost 13% market share drop for Apple’s Mac computer line in the first quarter compared to a year ago.

Great Britain’s National Health Service has confirmed plans to use joint contact tracing technology developed by Apple and Google in an upcoming app to warn users if they have been near someone suspected of being infected with COVID-19.

Apple reportedly will roll out a major refresh to its top-of-the-line iPhones in the fall that will see the addition of 5G and a re-design of two models with a slimmer, sleeker design. Sources said the company also plans to release a smaller, less expensive HomePod and an electronic finder technology to monitor the location of anything from keys to a purse.

Friday’s announcement that Apple and Google are teaming up to create a contact-tracing program to stop the spread of COVID-19 generated more questions than answers.

We broke down how these apps could help with our Cult of Mac explainer on the subject. However, we also found a more lighthearted, comic resource that addresses the ins and outs of contact tracing.

Apple is working on a totally re-designed, wireless charging pad with the ability to route power to exact areas to prevent overheating, according to Front Page Tech analyst Jon Prosser.

Prosser reported Friday that engineers on Apple’s Sharing and Proximity team and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic recently received prototype units of something called “C68”. AirPower isn’t mentioned by name, but descriptions and details appear to match Apple’s failed charging mat.

HBO reversed its plans Friday to drop support for second- and third-generation Apple TV units saying it would extend its policy until May 15.

In a comment to Cult of Mac, the company said it would continue support for the older devices “a few additional months.”

Facebook announced Thursday a new feature designed to help reduce distractions from the social network by letting users temporarily mute push notifications.

Called “Quiet Mode,” the new setting can be activated within a scheduled time period or set intervals.

Apple followed various other streaming services Thursday, making a handful of its original Apple TV+ shows and movies available for free to anyone with an Apple ID.

Dickinson, Little America, Servant, For All Mankind, Snoopy in Space, Helpsters, Ghostwriter and The Elephant Queen are available now in the United States. In many other countries, the free Apple TV+ streaming begins April 11. It remains unknown how long the shows will be available at no charge.

Stanford Health Care and Apple have partnered on a new iPhone app for local police officers, firefighters and paramedics in the California Bay Area with guidance on screening for symptoms of first responders and, if needed, schedule testing.

A ventilator simulator app for iPad and Mac is helping medical workers quickly learn how to use the life-saving machines during the coronavirus pandemic. The software, originally developed for classroom use, is now being used to train doctors on the fly as demand for ventilators — and professionals who can operate them — soars due to COVID-19.

The free simulator software looks and operates just like the Hamilton-C6, a state-of-the-art ventilator sold by Switzerland-based Hamilton Medical AG, one of the world’s largest medical ventilator manufacturers. Much like a flight simulator for pilots, the iPad app allows medical professionals unfamiliar with mechanical ventilators, or simply rusty after years of not using them, to practice adjusting settings without endangering lives.

“You don’t want to practice on a real patient, so that’s why we developed this simulator that basically provides that interaction,” Alexander Starcevic, director of marketing at Hamilton Medical AG, told Cult of Mac. “It provides you with a real interface that you have on the real ventilator. In addition, you have behind this a patient model that actually responds to what you’re setting.”

Apple has acquired Voysis, an artificial intelligence startup the high-tech company is expected to use to improve Siri and its natural language technology, based on published reports Friday.