Niantic has decided to surprise us. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is available to download now, with the original launch date being tomorrow, June 21. I’ve spent a couple of minutes playing and reached level 2. Certain aspects of the game are slow, like UI-wise, like when you level up. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is set in J.K. Rowling’s fictional universe where players help protect the wizarding world from exposure to muggles. Players will use their smartphones to capture magical creatures running loose, hunt potion ingredients, and use portkeys to travel to popular locations in the wizarding world. Download it here: App Store: Free
Nest Cam Allows Previous Owner to Spy on You
If you buy a used Nest Cam, the previous owner could have access to it. The Wirecutter discovered a way a previous owner can view the images, via the Wink hub. It is unclear if the issue applies to other products. Oh, and there is currently no way to fix it.
If you buy and set up a used Nest indoor camera that has been paired with a Wink hub, the previous owner may have unfettered access to images from that camera. And we currently don’t know of any cure for this problem. We are unsure what further implications there may be regarding Nest’s video service, including whether it may be vulnerable to other methods or through other smart-home device integrations.
YouTube Under Federal Investigation Over Children’s Privacy
The U.S. government is investigating YouTube for allegedly violating children’s privacy.
The complaints contended that YouTube, which is owned by Google, failed to protect kids who used the streaming-video service and improperly collected their data in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a 1998 law known as COPPA that forbids the tracking and targeting of users younger than age 13.
Chainspace: The London Startup That Powers Facebook's Libra
There has been much excitement, discussion, and concern regarding Facebook’s forthcoming cryptocurrency, Libra. Wired told the story of Chainspace, the little-known London startup that made it possible.
One of the key moments in Facebook’s march towards the creation of Libra came in February 2019, when the company announced it had acquired Chainspace, a London-based, Gibraltar-registered blockchain venture which counted among its ranks several academics from the University College London Information Security Research Group, including George Danezis, one of the UK’s leading privacy engineering researchers. (Danezis did not reply to an interview request.) Founded in early 2018, over its relatively brief lifetime Chainspace tallied up several noteworthy achievements…“The real potential that we saw in Chainspace was one of the first serious implementations of state sharding across a trustless network,” says Lior Messika, an early investor in Chainspace with his VC company Eden Block. “We were impressed by a pioneering approach and solid plans for implementation.”
Libra: Finally, a Way for Facebook to Control More, with Andrew Orr - ACM 516
Bryan Chaffin and Andrew Orr dig deep into the possibilities—for good and ill (mostly ill)—of Facebook’s new Libra cryptocurrency. They cover how it work, why Facebook went the cryptocurrency route, and what Facebook has to gain from the project. Spoiler, the answer is everything!
And You Thought the Fetish for Vinyl Records is Weird
Mel Magazine writes:
A generation raised on mp3s and Spotify are collecting [CD] discs like vinyl — but for reasons that have almost nothing to do with the music.
Did you throw all yours away?
Apple Card Testing Program Expands to Retail Employees
The Apple Card testing program has now expanded to include Apple’s retail employees. Although they can’t talk about the card but they can use it publicly to make purchases.
Many of the rank-and-file employees have already applied. The digital version via Apple Pay on the iPhone is usable immediately, while workers are told to expect the arrival of physical versions within two to three weeks. The employees are being offered the same APR range that Apple advertised to consumers: 13.24% to 24.24%, the people said.
I look forward to getting the Apple Card.
Serif Launches Affinity Publisher for Mac and Windows
Serif, the creators of Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo, have today launched Affinity Publisher. It will let people create designs for magazines, books, brochures, posters, reports, stationary, and more.
Affinity is planning to release the new Publisher app for iPad in the future but for now, both Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo iOS users will have functionality with Affinity Publisher documents.
While Publisher itself will come to iPad later, owners of Affinity Designer and Photo on iPad will be able to open, edit and export Publisher documents, on the move, from today.
4K Blu-ray Players, Openly Operated – TMO Daily Observations 2019-06-19
John Martellaro and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont for a chat about John’s 4K Blu-ray player decisions, and the Openly Operated service.
Apple is the World's Fourth Biggest Gaming Company
Apple became the fourth biggest gaming company in the world in 2018, a new report picked up by Cult of Mac said. In total, it earned around $9.453 billion from games during 2018. This is all before the launch of Apple Arcade, which is set to arrive soon.
It is ranked higher than gaming giants like Nintendo, EA, and Activision — thanks mostly to the popularity of mobile gaming on iPhone. Apple is estimated to have earned $9.453 billion from games during 2018 alone. Apple isn’t a name you might typically consider when you think about gaming. Many gamers won’t accept the iPhone or iPad as real gaming devices, and the Mac is famously bad at being a gaming PC. But whether you like it or not, Apple has become a behemoth in the gaming industry. The rise of the App Store and the increasing popularity of iOS games means the iPhone-maker is now the fourth-largest gaming company.
