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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Articles by Charlotte Henry

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How Anthony Hopkins Ended up Guest Starring in 'Mythic Quest - Everlight'

Charlotte Henry ·

A special episode of Mythic Quest arrived on Apple TV+ on Friday and (spoiler alert!) it features a guest appearance from Sir Anthony Hopkins. Variety has the background on how the Everlight episode was made, and how The Silence of the Lambs star ended up in it.

“Mythic Quest” is nonetheless set in the video game world and counts Ubisoft among its producers. The special episode is not devoid of an animated game sequence — and this one gets the gift of narration from Anthony Hopkins. Wanting someone with “some heft” so “right from the very beginning [of the episode] it just feels premium, like a cinematic experience,” McElhenney says, they considered such performers as Dame Judi Dench and Ian McKellan. But when Hopkins came up, it was kismet. Producer and guest star “Craig Mazin said, ‘Oh I know Anthony Hopkins’ lawyer, let’s just call him up.’ And within 20 minutes I’m talking to Anthony Hopkins,” McElhenney says. In pre-COVID times it may have been hard to get Hopkins to commit, but with the ability to work from anywhere, McElhenney hopped on the phone with him and the Oscar-winner self-recorded his role.

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Clipper Card Now Works with Apple Pay For Easier Bay Area Transit

Charlotte Henry ·

Those in the Bay Area can use Apple Pay when using any form of transit that is accessed with a Clipper card. The feature now works on BART, Muni, Caltrain, and the ferryTechCrunch reported.

As noted back in February when this was first confirmed as on the way, Clipper works with Apple’s “Express Transit” feature. That’s just a fancy way to say that you can tap to pay with the digital Clipper card without first needing to punch in your phone’s PIN or using FaceID. On certain newer iPhones, it also lets you keep using the Clipper card for a few hours after your battery has died; a wonderful thing in a pinch, but probably not something you want to rely on regularly.

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Apple Studios in Early Discussions to Distribute Original Comedy 'Mr. Lucky' From Kandell Twins

Charlotte Henry ·

There are early discussions taking place regarding Apple Studios serving as a distribution partner for original comedy Mr. Lucky, written by Aaron and Jordan Kandell. It follows the screenwriters selling the pitch to production company ImageMovers, Variety reported.

Inspired by a true story, details are under wraps but it is described as a high concept rom-com that explores luck, and how tragedy and triumph, disaster and fortune are all in the way we choose to view them. Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine are producing for ImageMovers. The Kandells, who just signed with Range Media Partners, are the writers behind the Oscar-nominated Disney epic “Moana” and the 2018 film “Adrift,” starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin. They have a number of notable upcoming projects through their banner Twin Ink.

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U.S. House Committee Approve Big Tech Report

Charlotte Henry ·

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee formally approved a report that accuses big tech companies, including Apple, of either buying or crushing smaller rivals, Reuters reported. The extensive document offers various options for changing antitrust law.

The more than 400-page staff report will become an official committee report, and the blueprint for legislation to rein in the market power of the likes of Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Facebook (FB.O). The report was approved by a 24-17 vote that split along party lines. The companies have denied any wrongdoing. The report first released in October – the first such congressional review of the tech industry – suggested extensive changes to antitrust law and described dozens of instances where it said the companies had misused their power.

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Adding Car to HomeKit for In-App Controls and Automation

Charlotte Henry ·

Self-confessed “home automation enthusiast” Siobhán Ellis integrated an electric car into her Apple HomeKit setup. In a blogpost (spotted by MacRumors) she explained what she did and how she did it.

After I initially wrote this blog post, I wondered if there was a HomeBridge integration into the Jaguar InControl API. InControl enables a number of things, such as remotely seeing if the car is unlocked, how much it’s charged and if it is charging. It also enables pre-conditioning, which is the warming up of the car before you travel somewhere so the batteries work at peak efficiency. As it happens, there is a plugin, called Jlr Incontrol. Installation was easy, although I must say it came up with a few warnings.

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Windows 10 Now Runs on Apple Silicon M1 Macs

Charlotte Henry ·

Users who so desire now run Windows 10 on an M1 Mac. The latest version of Parallels allows the operating system to run on an Apple Silicon computer, The Verge reported.

The latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac now allows M1 Mac owners to run Windows 10 on Arm apps or traditional x86 apps side by side with Mac or iOS apps on Big Sur. There will be some app limitations on the Windows 10 on Arm side, thanks to its own app emulation, but Windows 10 on Arm will soon support x64 app emulation, too. Parallels Desktop maker Corel says its latest update also results in some impressive performance and battery improvements over running the software on Intel-based Macs. According to Corel, the 16.5 update uses up to 250 percent less energy on an M1 Mac, compared to an Intel-based MacBook Air. There’s also a promise of up to 60 percent better DirectX 11 performance and up to 30 percent better overall virtual machine performance running the Arm version of Windows 10 on an M1 Mac instead of a Windows 10 VM on an Intel-based MacBook Pro.

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UK Tesco Shopper Orders Apples, Gets iPhone SE

Charlotte Henry ·

One happy customer in London, England ordered apples at a supermarket and came away with an iPhone SE. The Mirror reported that customer Nick James found out he’d randomly won the device when he went to pick up a ‘click and collect’ order at a Tesco Extra store.

Mr James was gobsmacked to receive a free iPhone SE in his click and collect order. He told the Mirror: “I was half expecting the surprise to be an Easter egg or something – I was a little bit shocked to say the least.” Tesco Mobile is giving away free Apple iPhones, AirPods and Samsung devices as part of a “super substitutes” promotion this week. Tweeting about his win earlier this week, he said: “A big thanks this week to Tesco and Tesco Mobile. “On Wednesday evening we went to pick up our click and collect order and had a little surprise in there – an Apple iPhone SE.

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Mac and Services to Provide AAPL Upside

Charlotte Henry ·

AAPL investors can still expect an upside when during Apple’s forthcoming earnings call thanks to Mac and services. That’s according to J.P Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee in a note seen by AppleInsider.

Lead analyst Samik Chatterjee writes that the setup heading into Q1 2021 earnings is “dramatically different than the last one,” since the focus on near-term earnings drivers has moderated after the busy holiday season. Specifically, iPhone builds are slowing down, led primarily by softening smartphone shipments in China and slowing momentum of 5G-equipped iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro sales. Relative to sell-side consensus, Chatterjee believes investors are primed for softer results. However, the analyst still expects modest upside to investor expectations. He cites strong growth in Services and the current momentum in Mac and iPad shipments as the primary driver, despite concerns that work from home trends will wear off. JP Morgan is tracking iPhone revenue in line with expectations.

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No mini in 2022 iPhone Lineup, Says Ming-Chi Kuo

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that there will be no iPhone 14 mini, in a new note seen by MacRumors. Despite its relatively poor performance, a smaller model is expected to be in the 2021 lineup.

“We predict that the new 2H22 iPhone will come in four models: the high-end 6.7″ and 6.1″, and the lower-end 6.7″ and 6.1″,” wrote Kuo. If there is no so-called iPhone 14 mini next year, the iPhone SE would regain the title of smallest iPhone with its 4.7-inch display. However, the current iPhone SE is actually slightly larger than the 5.4-inch mini model due to having thicker bezels and a Touch ID home button. The iPhone SE also has only a single-lens rear camera and is equipped with an LCD screen, whereas the iPhone 12 mini has a superior OLED display.

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Spotify Launches First Hardware Product - Car Thing - in U.S.

Charlotte Henry ·

Spotify launched in-car entertainment system Car Thing in the U.S. on Tuesday, TechCrunch reported. It’s the company’s first ever hardware product.

The company explained its interest in Car Thing is about solving a need for customers who want a “more seamless” and personalized in-car listening experience. Although many cars today support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, Spotify points out that the average age of a car in the U.S. is actually 11 years old and the average lifetime of cars is 18 years. That means there are still a large number of cars on the road that don’t support modern, in-car infotainment systems. Car Thing is being introduced to serve this market — and likely, to give Spotify the opportunity to explore future business models where it has a more direct relationship with customers inside the vehicle, though the company isn’t speaking to its longer-term ambitions at this time.

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Discord Servers Can be Marked NSFW and Blocked on iOS

Charlotte Henry ·

Discord servers can now be marked NSFW and blocked on iOS. The label is required and the messaging platform will mark relevant servers if users do not The Verge reported.

The NSFW marker does two things. First, it prevents anyone under the age of 18 from joining. But the bigger limitation is that it prevents NSFW servers from being accessed on iOS devices — a significant restriction that’s almost certainly meant to cater to Apple’s strict and often prudish rules around nudity in services distributed through the App Store. Tumblr infamously wiped porn from its entire platform in order to come into compliance with Apple’s rules.