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News - page 597

The antitrust arguments that could hobble the tech giants

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Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Apple could be the potential recipient of an antitrust investigation.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim has laid out some of the potential antitrust arguments that could be made against tech giants.

Delrahim’s office is reportedly in charge of investigating Google parent company Alphabet, as well as a potential investigation into Apple.

Dropbox overhauls its Mac app, adds a bunch of awesome features

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Dropbox-overhaul
Try it out today.
Photo: Dropbox

Dropbox wants to be the only app you use on your Mac to access your most important files — wherever they are stored.

Its overhauled desktop client brings all your favorite cloud services together inside an all-new design with a bunch of awesome new features. It’s more than an app, Dropbox says, “it’s a completely new experience.”

PBS president says new App Store rules will hurt its educational app

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Recode PBS president 1
PBS's Paula Kerger and Yamiche Alcindor.
Screenshot: Recode

Apple’s efforts to limit data sharing on kids’ apps will hurt one of PBS’s educational apps, the broadcaster’s president and CEO has revealed.

Speaking at Recode‘s Code Conference 2019, PBS’s Paula Kerger said the company’s PBS Kids steaming app will be affected by new Apple restrictions. These stop developers of kids’ apps from including third-party ads and analytics tools. These rules will go into effect on September 3.

Goldman Sachs CEO says he’s already using Apple Card

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Apple Card
Are you excited about Apple Card?
Photo: Apple

The Apple Card hasn’t publicly launched yet, but employees at both Apple and its partner Goldman Sachs are already publicly testing out the credit card.

In an interview at Recode’s Code Conference, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon talked about his experience of using the joint credit card. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he really, really likes it.

Apple looking to snap up a piece of Intel’s smartphone modem business

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intel
Intel has plenty of modem-making expertise.
Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

Intel is reportedly looking to sell its struggling smartphone modem business in several pieces — and Apple could be one of the buyers.

According to a new report, Apple has designs on acquiring Intel’s German modem business. This is one of the most sought-after pieces, and would give Apple a big boost in potentially developing its own 5G modems.

Meet the new head of testing for selfie cameras

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mannequin for selfie camera tests
Sienna never blinks.
Photo: DxOMark/YouTube

The automotive industry has crash test dummies. The lab testing virtually every kind of digital camera made has Sienna, a lifelike mannequin created to measure the quality of a smartphone’s selfie camera.

DxOMark has been an independent tester of conventional digital and smartphone cameras since 2008. Sienna is the newest addition to the team because the French lab only started testing front-facing cameras this year.

iMovie for iOS adds sweet green screen effect

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iMovie on iPhone X
iMovie just got some major updates.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is out with a huge update for the iMovie app on iOS that makes it easy to use your own green and blue screen effects.

Using the new green screen tool, iPhone and iPad users can now swap out a background for something new. This allows you to insert logos, photos or background videos into your videos.

iPhone XS resale value makes Galaxy S10 look pathetic

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
Almost a year later, used iPhone XS and XR units are still worth most of what what paid for them.
Photo: Apple

The 2018 iPhone models drew criticism for their high prices, but new data shows that they have held their value. The same can not be said for Samsung’s rival flagship phone.

The Galaxy S10 line lost more resale value in the first month than the iPhone XS and XR did in the 9 months after their release, according to a phone resale company.

Mobile officially tops TV as American’s biggest time waster

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iPhone XR 1
It’s been coming a long time, but Americans now spend more hours a day on our phones and tablets than we do watching TVs.
Photo: Apple

US adults spend more time on their phones and tablets than watching traditional televisions. While phone use has been on the rise for years even as TV use dropped, the most recent annual survey done by eMarketer is the first in which mobile devices came out on top.

Only a few years ago, TV use was significantly ahead of phones and tablets. Not any more.

Apple Watch 4 with LTE expands its reach across Europe

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Man’s brand new Apple Watch turns out to be toilet plunger
Man’s brand new Apple Watch turns out to be toilet plunger
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch Series 4 with LTE connectivity is now available in Austria and Finland for the first time. You can order yours from Apple or select carrier partners, with prices starting at €529.

Apple’s newest wearable will also arrive in Israel later this week.

Antitrust boss who may investigate Apple used to lobby for … Apple

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Elizabeth Warren says the current antitrust boss for the DOJ used to lobby on behalf of tech giants.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Justice Department’s antitrust chief to recuse himself from investigating Apple and Google.

The Democratic 2020 presidential candidate said that Makan Delrahim has a conflict of interest. This is due to his history lobbying for the two companies.

Apple cancels plans for new Denmark data center

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Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple has canceled plans to build a second data center in Aabenraa, Denmark.

The news comes two months after construction was halted at another site in Denmark over an alleged dispute between Apple and main contractor Exyte. Apple is now looking to sell the 700 acres of land it owns.

Revolut now supports Apple Pay in 16 countries

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Revolut
Start spending with Apple Pay today.
Photo: Revolut

Revolut has expanded Apple Pay support to 16 countries across Europe.

The mobile banking service first started working with Apple Pay in late May, but only in the United Kingdom. Revolut says its customers have been requesting support “for a long time.”

Foxconn says it could manufacture all U.S. iPhones outside of China

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Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
This could help Apple counter China trade tariffs.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Fears about an impending trade war with China have shaken Apple, which produces the overwhelming majority of its devices in the country.

However, according to Apple manufacturer Foxconn, there’s some good news. It claims it has the capacity to produce all iPhones bound for the U.S. outside of China if it needs to.

Goldman Sachs isn’t worried about lack of profitability for Apple Card

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Apple Card
Apple Card will launch this summer.
Photo: Apple

Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs is taking a very Apple approach to making money from the venture, by pushing customer loyalty over squeezing out as much profitability as possible.

At an “IGNITION: Transforming Finance” event on Monday, Omer Ismail, who heads up Goldman’s Marcus division, talked Apple Card. Ismail also explained why he’s not worried about a potential lack of profit.

iPadOS makes Apple Pencil much faster and better [Opinion]

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Apple Pencil in iPadOS 13 decreased latency
At WWDC, Apple VP Craig Federighi revealed one of the ways iPadOS 13 improves the Apple Pencil.
Screenshot: Apple

Without changing the hardware, iPadOS 13 manages to decrease the latency of the Apple Pencil. And that’s just the start: there are also new features for non-artists to take advantage of this active stylus.

Check out our first impressions of using an Apple Pencil with the initial beta of Apple’s next operating system.

First Mythic Quest trailer mines gaming world for comedy gold

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Mythic Quest
Rob McElhenny’s character has an ego the size of a city bus.
Photo: Ubisoft

Apple is gunning for Silicon Valley’s title as the funniest nerdy comedy on TV with its upcoming show Mythic Quest.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney gave gamers a preview of the TV show he’s been working on for Apple TV+ at E3 today. Mythic Quest, is a comedy following the developers behind a fictional game that rose to become the most popular title ever. McElhenny himself plays the creative director of the game as he readies to launch the first expansion, Raven’s Banquet

This will undoubtedly be Apple’s funniest TV show: