Apple Inc. - page 4

90+ organizations urge Tim Cook to drop Apple’s photo scanning plan

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Groups oppose Apple photo scanning
The largest campaign so far against Apple's new child safety features.
Photo: Benjamin Balázs

An international coalition of more than 90 policy and rights groups is urging Apple to drop plans to scan user photos for child abuse material (CSAM).

In an open letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, published on Thursday, the coalition said it is concerned the feature “will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for children.”

UK regulator investigates accusation of collusion between Apple and Google

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Apple Google
Google and Apple are accused of colluding with one another.
Photo: Apple/Google

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority is looking into accusations of “collusion at a very senior level” against Apple and Google.

Online campaign group Marketers for an Open Web made the complaint. It says the two tech behemoths are “not competing head to head,” but rather working together when it comes to search.

The group points to documents uncovered in a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit, including a 2018 internal email in which Apple and Google staffers discussed how they “work as if we are one company.”

HexCon20: Hexnode to host its first-ever user conference Dec. 2-3

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Hexnode will hold its first-ever user conference, HexCon 20, in the first week of December 2020.
Hexnode will hold its first user conference, HexCon20, in the first week of December 2020.
Image: Hexnode

This event post is presented by Hexnode.

Unified endpoint management provider Hexnode plans to host its first-ever global user conference, HexCon20, December 2 and 3. The online event, intended to bring together Hexnode users and partners, will feature an array of speakers and educational sessions covering every aspect of endpoint management, including Apple device management.

Save up to 47% on the Apple Clear Case for iPhone 11, 11 Pro

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iPhone 11 Clear Case
The biggest discounts yet!
Photo: Apple

Want an iPhone case that won’t hide your smartphone’s colorful design? Look no further than Apple’s official Clear Case, which is now down to as little as $20.86 on Amazon (47% off) for a limited time.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

HomeKit-powered lights give this setup a Star Trek vibe [Setups]

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A cozy but epic setup
A cozy but epic wfh setup
Photo: @mrisad

A set of origami-style lights illuminate the cozy setup of Instagram user @mrisad, an integration delivery manager. The Nanoleaf lights floating above his dual monitors evoke the control panels from some ’70s sci-fi show. And they’re integrated with HomeKit, Apple’s home-automation platform.

The heart of his rig is a beautiful pair of screens. The large main screen is a $1,000 curved, 38-inch screen from LG. The second screen is a 28-inch Asus gaming monitor. He hooked them both up to a Mac mini, and elegantly suspended them in midair by an inexpensive ($40) but fully articulated desktop stand.

To round out his setup, @mrisad has a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad from Apple, and a trio of chargers for his iPhone, iPad and AirPods. As for audio, he has a HomePod and a pair of Sennheiser noise-canceling headphones.

6-in-1 charger rolls out the welcome mat for all your Apple devices

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Air Omni 6-in-1 charger
The charger for the Apple fan who carries everything.
Photo: Pitaka

If you live in an older house where places to plug in are few in number, you begin to appreciate the idea of a charging station for multiple devices.

Pitaka’s Air Omni is a wireless charger for up to six devices that does away with multiple chargers and cords. And it will prevent you from having to cut additional sockets into the walls of your vintage digs.

Apple, Google detail coronavirus contact tracing system with privacy at its core

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Apple Google
Apple & Google gives specifics of their contact tracing system it is developing to better track and protect people from COVID-19.
Photo: Apple/Google

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.

Will contact-tracing apps do more harm than good?

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iPhone showing coronavirus that causes COVID-19
Can a tracing app protect your health and privacy.
Photo: Cult of Mac/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The world was starting to develop a healthy skepticism for tech companies and their claims of making data privacy a priority. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal seemed to get our attention and we began to understand how easy it is for groups to track our digital lives.

Then COVID-19 spread with bullet speed across the world and now surveillance of our movements to track the virus is sounding to many like a good idea.

Explainer: Contact tracing and how Apple and Google will make it work

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COVID-19
Electron microscope image of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Photo: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Apple and Google revealed Friday that they’re teaming up to take on one of the most colossal tasks in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19: contact tracing.

If you’re like me, you probably hadn’t heard about contact tracing until the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s proven to be an important tool in countries that have seen a drop in their reported cases of the coronavirus.

With a little background, here are the basics of contact tracing and what you need to know.

Apple and Google team up to build COVID-19 contact tracing apps

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Apple Google
Apple and Google join forces using Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Photo: Apple/Google

In a rare moment of collaboration, Apple and Google said Friday they have teamed up to create a contact-tracing program that uses smartphones to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The privacy-focused solution created by the companies will use anonymous Bluetooth “chirps” from phones as a way to tell where an infected person has been and who they’ve come in contact with.

Apple pledges $50 million to bail out indie record labels

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Apple Music is preparing for invasion
Apple is ready to help its indie music partners hurt by COVID-19 shutdowns.
Photo: Apple

Apple has created a $50 million advance fund to help independent music labels and distributors pay their artists and keep operations afloat.

The global lockdown in an effort to slow the COVID-19 outbreak has been particularly brutal to independent labels. Music stores, in-person venues and TV/movie productions are all closed, killing sales, licensing income and anticipated revenues from shows now canceled.

Lawmakers want proof Apple’s COVID-19 app protects privacy

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apple
The new COVID-19 app and website provide the latest information and guidance from the CDC for users across the US.
Photo: Apple

A group of U.S. Senators is requesting assurances from CEO Tim Cook that Apple has privacy protections built into the company’s new COVID-19 screening app and website.

Senators Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Bob Menedez and Cory Booker sent a letter addressed to Cook on Friday voicing concerns about the private health data of Americans.

Apple leaks new Logic Pro X Live Loops feature

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Logic Pro X Live Loops
This screenshot shows an as-yet unreleased version of Logic Pro X.
Photo: Apple

Sometime before this past weekend, Apple posted a screenshot of what is presumably an upcoming new version of Logic Pro X, its pro music-creation app, onto its education page. It shows a brand new feature, previously only seen in the iOS version of GarageBand: Live Loops. Live Loops is a way to trigger music clips live, on-the-fly, so you can create music like a DJ.

And the Logic version looks great. And more importantly, it finally adds Apple’s take on the Session View from Logic’s biggest rival, Ableton Live.

February smartphone shipments hit historic low

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iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
Smartphone shipments, including iPhones, were significantly down in February.
Photo: Apple

Worldwide smartphone shipments took a much-anticipated nosedive in the month of February as the COVID-19 outbreak began to spread around the globe.

Strategy Analytics reported Friday a 38% drop in shipments, the worst ever since smartphone sales began more than a decade ago.

Small Apple-related companies grappling with COVID-19 impact

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WaterField Designs
Self-isolation orders in San Francisco emptied this studio at WaterField Designs.
Photo: WaterField Designs

Gary Waterfield should be collaborating with colleagues today over the hum of sewing machines producing an elegant leather crossbody laptop bag.

The small-batch tech backpacks and shoulder bags of WaterField Designs since 1998 have attracted discerning Apple users. Waterfield likes to time a new production run with an Apple product launch.

But when Apple unveiled the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard this week, the handful of WaterField employees were stuck in their San Francisco-area homes on one of the strictest lockdowns since the coronavirus invaded American soil.

Top 5 Apple mobile device management platforms for 2020

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Hexnode top 5 Apple MDMs: Mobile device management is a crucial element of IT security.
Mobile device management is a crucial element of IT security.
Image: Hexnode

This top 5 Apple MDM platforms post is presented by Hexnode.

With the surge in recent years of employees working via smartphones, tablets and laptops from all over the place, it’s no surprise mobile device management, aka MDM, has become a crucial tool for organizations large and small. Then add in the near-ubiquity of cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps, plus companies letting employees use their own devices (BYOD). It all equals MDM becoming an unavoidable part of IT security. Ignore it at your own risk.

iPhone shipments soar in India during first two months of 2020

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
Demand for Apple's iPhone is up in India.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s iPhone shipments in India grew by more than 55 percent during the first two months of 2020, a positive piece of news for the tech giant in what is an otherwise constant barrage of coronavirus-related stories about setbacks.

Apple has invested heavily in India, one of the few remaining growing smartphone markets. Over the last couple of years, the iPhone maker has established manufacturing in the country and will soon open its first Apple Store.

Apple pays up in patent case involving FaceTime technology

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Facetime
Jony Ive and Steve Jobs talk during the first public FaceTime demo, which took place at WWDC 2010 in San Francisco.
Photo: Mathieu Thouvenin/Flickr CC

Out of appeals, Apple cut a check to VirnetX for more than $454 million to end a lengthy patent infringement case.

VirnetX, which sued Apple over patents relating to FaceTime, iMessage and VPN technologies, announced the payment in a one-paragraph press release Friday.

‘Behind the Mac’ ad salutes accomplished women

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Apple ad on YouTube Int. women's day
Alicia Keys on the keys of her MacBook Pro.
Screenshot: Apple/YouTube

Apple’s salute to International Women’s Day is a black-and-white montage of cool portraits of powerful women and the Mac computers that play a role in their work.

Apple released the “Behind the Mac” video on YouTube Wednesday morning.