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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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The Story Behind Lil Wayne's Hit Show 'Young Money Radio' on Apple Music

This weekend, the eighth episode of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio on Apple Music/Beats 1 Radio. In a short time, the show has become a huge hit. Two of the people who, alongside, Lil Wayne, brought Young Money Radio, to Beats 1 –  Apple Music exec Larry Jackson and the rapper’s manager, Mack Maine – told Variety how it all came about.

“We’re No. 1 in hip-hop,” Jackson boasts of Apple Music. “Artists like Wayne, Drake, Travis, Future, Post Malone, Kanye all do really well on the service.” To be sure: Drake’s “Scorpion” holds the biggest first-week streams tally of any album on Apple Music. In second place: Wayne’s “Carter V.” Adds Jackson: “It was a natural if I could work it out to get Wayne to deliver the show.” With Wayne manager Mack Maine, who also serves as president of Young Money, Jackson worked it out so the rapper and his crew could fly out to Los Angeles weekly to tape the show in Apple Music’s Culver City studios. Then COVID-19 hit and those plans were thwarted. Instead, Jackson set Wayne up to broadcast from his home base in Miami.

New Sony PlayStation 5 Unveiled

The Sony PlayStation 5 was unveiled on Thursday. There was a lot to unpack, but The Verge has a good breakdown of what came out of the event, including the console’s controversial design.

Obviously, the design is divisive. Equally obvious, Sony will have known it would be. As a fan of Sony’s outlandish gadgetry throughout the decades, I am glad that the PS5 looks more like the gleaming new wing of a Chinese airport terminal than a piece of AV equipment. I’m also glad that, unlike the Xbox Series X, it’ll actually fit into my TV stand horizontally. But taste is personal, as are living room setups, and it’s reasonable to be taken aback by Sony’s direction here. I’ll just note that game consoles stick around for a long time and even the weirdest usually end up feeling normal once they’ve been under your TV for a couple of years.

Trailer for 'Little Voice' on Apple TV+

A new trailer for Little Voice has dropped. The coming of age drama will arrive on Apple TV+ on July 10. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the series features music from Emmy and Tony Award-nominee Sara Bareilles Sara Bareilles. Brittany O’Grady, Sean Teale, Colton Ryan, Shalini Bathina, Kevin Valdez, Phillip Johnson Richardson, and Chuck Cooper all star in the show.

Zoom Closes, Then Reactivates, Chinese Activist's Account

Zoom canceled, then reactivated, the account of a U.S.-based Chinese activist on Wednesday, Axios reported. It raises further concerns about how tech firms are being forced to engage in censorship to do business in the country.

Zoom has faced growing scrutiny over security concerns and its ties to China. Update: A Zoom spokesperson confirmed to Axios that the account had been closed “to comply with local law” and said it had now been re-activated. “Just like any global company, we must comply with applicable laws in the jurisdictions where we operate. When a meeting is held across different countries, the participants within those countries are required to comply with their respective local laws. We aim to limit the actions we take to those necessary to comply with local law and continuously review and improve our process on these matters. We have reactivated the US-based account.” — Zoom statement. Between the lines: This suggests Zoom closed the account due to concerns in China, which forbids free discussion of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy movement.

Amazon Pauses Police Use of Its Facial Recognition Software

Following in the footsteps of IBM, Amazon has banned police use of its facial recognition for the next 12 months. In a blog post published Wednesday, the company said that while groups that help reunite families with missing children and rescue human trafficking victims can still use its Rekognition software, there is a one-year moratorium on police usage.

We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge. We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.

WWDC 2020: iPad Pro Inspired iMac Could be on The Way

Apple may use WWDC 2020 to unveil an iMac inspired by the iPad Pro, according to tipster Sonny Dickson. Cult of Mac reported that this could mean thinner bezel.

The new all-in-one is expected to feature significantly slimmer bezels like Pro Display XDR, plus AMD Navi graphics. It has been almost eight years since the iMac got its last redesign, and despite still being a pretty machine, it is starting to look a little long in the tooth today. It’s understandable that many Apple fans want something new. Recent rumors have hinted at a significant iMac refresh — complete with a new design — will come this year. Now tipster Sonny Dickson, who has been accurate in the past, has some new tidbits to share. Dickson says the new iMac will use “iPad Pro design language, with Pro Display like bezels.” He doesn’t go into detail, but this suggests a return to sharper edges, a thinner form factor, and an almost edge-to-edge screen.

Ireland Subreddit Shutting Down at Midnight in Bid to Stop Racist Trolls

The Ireland subreddit is to close every night at midnight local time in an attempt to stop a deluge of racist posts. BBC News reported that it plans to add moderators and filters as a longterm solution.

Moderators said having to check every comment on the social network’s forums had pushed them to “breaking point”.vThe page is now seeking to expand its team of moderators and add filters that can spot posts “hateful” comments.vIn a post on the page, which has 280,000 members, it said: “We’re taking the very difficult decision today to shut down Reddit Ireland temporarily between midnight and 08:00 each day in order to stem the flow of racist/extremist content which is being posted at these times.”

Black Lives Matter Plaza Seen From the Sky in Apple Maps

Apple Maps has been updated to reflect the area of Washington D.C. now known as Black Lives Matter Plaza. Cult of Mac noticed that its likely that an older imager of the street has been edited to feature the road painting that now currently exists.

Black Lives Matter Plaza is a two-block section of downtown Washington, not far from the White House, which was renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on June 5 following the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25. Not only has the street been renamed, but “Black Lives Matter” has been painted onto it in 35-foot capital letters. You’ve likely already seen it if you’ve been on social media or read the news at all in recent days. Now you can get an even better view of it inside Apple Maps.

Honda Hit by Suspected Ransomware Attack

Honda has been hit by a suspected ransomware attack, BBC News reported. Global production was halted Monday, and it had not restarted at its main plant in Ohio, nor in Turkey, India or Brazil, at the time of this writing.

Honda can confirm that a cyber-attack has taken place on the Honda network,” the Japanese car-maker said in a statement. It added that the problem was affecting its ability to access its computer servers, use email and otherwise make use of its internal systems. “There is also an impact on production systems outside of Japan,” it added. “Work is being undertaken to minimise the impact and to restore full functionality of production, sales and development activities.” The firm – which makes motorcycles, cars, generators and lawn mowers, among other products – said one of its internal servers was attacked externally.