Luke Dormehl - page 40

The iOS 14 privacy feature that lets users know which apps are tracking them — and how — has started rolling out for beta users on certain apps.

Apple first showed off the new privacy labels at this year’s virtual Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple asked that, starting early this month, developers submit information to Apple concerning the type of data their apps collect on users.

This data is then used to create nutrition label-type categories that let users easily understand how they are being monitored. It means that, the first time users open an app, they will be alerted regarding this information. This can be used to help decide whether to use a certain app or how to decide sharing settings.

A new report adds weight to rumors that an Apple TV set-top box supercharged for gaming is coming next year.

“Apple is planning an upgraded box with a stronger gaming focus, an updated remote and a new processor,” according to Bloomberg.

Apple removed approximately 94,000 games from the App Store in China during 2020, The Wall Street Journal reports. This is a significantly larger number than last year’s tally of 25,000 games removed.

The escalation comes as China works harder to clamp down on illegal content on mobile platforms. The WSJ says the larger number illustrates Apple’s “vulnerability to state pressure” on its business.

Facebook argues that it is standing up for small businesses by challenging Apple on its pro-privacy measures. However, it appears that not all Facebook employees are buying the company line.

According to internal message board comments and audio obtained by BuzzFeed News, some Facebook employees think their employer is being a tad disingenuous with its public statements about working on behalf of mom-and-pop businesses.

Apple has started shipping out special iPhones to help security researchers discover weaknesses in iOS. Apple announced its new Apple Security Research Device Program in July. However, they have only started rolling out the phones now.

Under the program terms, researchers get these special iPhones for a period of one year. They may extend the loan period. These iPhones are far less locked-down than regular iPhones. That makes it easier to find flaws that could help improve iOS security.

MGM, the movie studio that owns the James Bond franchise, is supposedly up for sale — and The Wall Street Journal says some “big technology companies [are] logical buyers.”

Apple has previously been reported as expressing interest in acquiring the James Bond movies, and has held talks about purchasing MGM.

‘Tis the season to be jolly — or, it seems, to take your mortal enemies, tear their still-beating hearts from their chests, and then freeze said organ in your hand, all while laughing evilly. Or something similarly twisted.

That’s an around-about way of saying that Mortal Kombat for iOS has received an update. If you’re looking for a bit of gory fighting action to distract you from the impending holidays, it’s well worth checking out. Although why you’d have any built-up stress that needs excising after 2020 is beyond me…

Fortnite maker Epic Games continues to take shots at Apple — teaming with Samsung to send a gift bag to online influencers containing a “Free Fortnite” custom jacket with Apple-inspired logo, some suspiciously Apple-looking packaging, and a Galaxy Tab S7.

The note inside reads:

Looking for a great book to bury yourself in as we escape the closing days of a pretty terrible year? Whether you’re looking for one for yourself or a gift for a fellow tech lover, 2020 had no shortage of great titles.

Here are our choices for the best tech books of 2020.

Within just a couple of weeks of its launch, the iPhone 12 had become the world’s bestselling 5G smartphone model, according to figures published by Counterpoint Research.

What was second place for the month of October? The iPhone 12 Pro, of course.

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation called Facebook’s anti-Apple attack ads “a laughable [attempt] … to distract [users] from its poor track record of anticompetitive behavior and privacy issues” in an article published Friday.

Facebook lashed out at Apple last week with two full-page newspaper ads. The campaign targeted Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature, which fills users in on which apps are tracking them. Facebook claims the change will hurt small businesses by making it tougher for them to use targeted ads.

Apple revealed over the weekend that it is once again shuttering some of its stores as COVID-19 cases continue to climb. All 53 Apple Stores in the company’s home state of California, alongside those in Mexico, Brazil and London will shut their doors temporarily.

Apple has not announced when they will reopen. In the United Kingdom, nonessential stores in Greater London are closed until at least December 30, when guidance will be reviewed.

Apple has temporarily stopped working with Wistron, the iPhone supplier that this month had riots break out at its Indian factory due to alleged mistreatment of employees.

In a statement, Apple said that it has put the manufacturer on probation. It will not receive new Apple business until it has carried out corrective actions.

The state government in Karnataka, India found multiple labor law violations at the iPhone factory where workers rioted last weekend, a new report claims.

The riot took place at a Wistron factory. It resulted in $7 million of damage, with thousands of iPhones stolen during the protest. The government report — from the Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health — says that underpayment of wages, poor factory conditions, and irregular hours were all common at the plant.

The App Store has been one of the main focuses when it comes to Apple and potential antitrust violations. However, Apple Pay could also be a rising vulnerability for Apple as it defends itself against accusations of monopolistic behavior, the Financial Times notes.

According to the report, citing Loup Ventures analysts, Apple Pay is now used by 507 million people. That’s around half of the people in thee world who own an iPhone. By 2025, Bernstein analysts think it could facilitate one in every 10 credit card transactions worldwide. Of these, Apple gets an estimated 0.15% of each transaction.

The new AirPods Max headphones have plenty going for them. But “easy to take apart” apparently isn’t among their positive attributes.

Our friends over at iFixit have published the first installment of their AirPods Max teardown and — while it’s too early to know for certain whether these are going to any more repairable than the significantly tinier AirPods and AirPods Pro — the early signs show that they’re not particularly easy to gain access to.

At least in some ways, TikTok has had a blinder of a year in 2020 — being one of, if not the, the most consistently popular app in the App Store on a monthly basis, as well as enjoying the best single quarter of any app ever.

According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, it’s picked up another record, too: That of the top 10 most downloaded iOS app of the year with the highest percentage of positive reviews. It seems that people really, really like their TikTok.

Coronavirus cases continue to spike around the U.S. and the world — and the set of Apple TV+ shows is no exception. With several positive COVID-19 tests having been reported on the set of Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, the show creator and one of its lead actors Rob McElhenney sent out a message to staff, Variety reports.

But not everyone was happy about it.

Oscar winner Jared Leto could play Adam Neumann, boss of WeWork, in an Apple TV+ series about the rise and fall of the shared workspace startup.

At one point in time, WeWork had an estimated value of $47 billion, before it collapsed. Neumann served as WeWork’s CEO from 2010 through 2019, before finally being pressured into resigning. A Wall Street Journal article last year cited his “eccentric behavior” as one of the reasons he was pushed to step down.

Apple TV+ executives are reportedly in “prolonged conversations” to acquire two movies produced by former Pixar and Walt Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter.

The movies could be part of a larger agreement between Apple and the company Skydance Animation, which Lasseter heads up. Lasseter is one of the most successful creators in animation history. He played a key role in creating the Toy Story franchise, The Incredibles movies, Finding Dory, Frozen and more.

Facebook has launched its second, blistering full-page ad against Apple, one day after it took it to task in The New York Times and elsewhere for allegedly hurting small businesses.

The new ad, which will appear in today’s papers, is titled “Apple vs. the free internet.” Here’s what it says:

Facebook is supporting Fortnite maker Epic Games in its lawsuit against Apple, marking another low in the relationship between the two tech giants.

According to Steve Satterfield, a director of privacy and public policy at Facebook, the social network company thinks that it is, “really important that the court understand far reaching impact of Apple’s unfair policies.”

Apple employees donated their time and money in record quantities in 2020, a year that hasn’t exactly been the best in living memory. Apple’s Giving Program, which matches employee donations and volunteered hours with monetary donations to the size charity, saw plenty of action.

While Apple doesn’t provide exact figures for the year, it notes that — since the program’s inception in 2011 — Apple employees have raised close to $600 million in total donations to more than 34,000 organizations. Along the way, employees have volunteered a massive 1.6 million hours of their time.

Apple has released the first trailer for its upcoming Billie Eilish documentary, The World’s A Little Blurry.

The documentary, which Apple reportedly paid $25 million to acquire, will debut on Apple TV+ February 26. The trailer depicts Eilish in her regular home life, on stage, and also shows off home video of the pop star as a kid. Check it out below.

Facebook ran full-page ads in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, taking aim at Apple privacy features coming soon to iOS 14.

Facebook’s ads claim that the new privacy measures, intended to fill users in on how they are tracked online, will hurt small businesses. That’s because the new iOS feature will affect Facebook’s advertising model, which lets businesses target users with ads based on their personal data.