Elizabeth Warren Wants Anti-trust Chief to Recuse Himself From Apple Investigation

Senator Elizabeth Warren said that the Justice Department’s anti-trust chief should recuse himself from investigations into Apple and Google. Senator Warren, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said that Makan Delrahim had previously lobbied for the firms and therefore should not investigate them, Reuters reported.

In a letter to Delrahim, Warren said Alphabet Inc’s Google had hired him in 2007 to lobby federal antitrust officials on behalf of the company’s proposed acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc, and he had reported an estimated $100,000 in income from Google in that year. She said Apple Inc had hired Delrahim in 2006 and 2007 to lobby the government on its behalf on patent reform issues.

 

ProBASE C Aluminum Monitor Stand with Built-in USB Hub: $119.99

We have a deal on the ProBASE C Aluminum Monitor Stand. Made from aluminum and designed to match the styling of your iMac 5K, this device has a built-in USB hub with three USB Type-A ports (USB 3.0) and one USB Type-C port. It also features a concealed drawer to store flash drives, external HDDs, memory cards, stationery, pens, etc. This stand is $119.99 through our deal.

Apple Ends Danish iCloud Data Center Project

Apple has ended its plans to build a $921m iCloud data center in Denmark, AppleInsider reported. The company told the relevant local authority that it will not be building on the 285 hectares site in Kasso that it acquired in 2017. Apple will proceed with another data center project in the country.

In a «short phone call» to the Aabenraa Municipality, Apple advised it had made the decision to concentrate only on its data center construction taking place in Viborg, a second Danish construction project for the company. Apple also plans to sell the land, with no intention to construct anything else on the property, a statement from the municipality reads. Described as «completely unexpected,» Aabenraa director Stig Isaksen suggests the call was «an overall strategic business decision made in the United States, and that the decision has been taken entirely independently of the circumstances of the Aabenraa Municipality.» Isaksen also claims there has been «much praise» for local partners and the municipality from Apple throughout the project.

 

Win $1,000 By Using a Flip Phone for a Week

Frontier Bundles is hosting a challenge where people can win US$1,000 if they use a flip phone exclusively for a week. All you have to do to enter is fill out a form and explain why you should be the winner. The closing date for entry is July 1, 2019 at 5PM MST.

If you’re the person we choose, you’ll be responsible for using a flip phone in place of your smartphone for seven full days (that’s 168 hours!), and we want you to log your experience. We’ll have you track (don’t worry, your info stays safe with us!) how long it takes you to do basic tasks such as texting and checking email, how many times you wish you could Google something, how many hours you slept, how your productivity changed (or didn’t!), and even if you were late to appointments.

PaMu Scroll True Wireless Earbuds: $69.99

We have a deal on a pair of PaMu Scroll True Wireless Earbuds with a charging case. These earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.0, touch controls, and allow you to connect to Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. There are four colors to choose from, and their $69.9 through our deal, a 53% discount off retail.

Photos of Travelers, License Plates Stolen in U.S. Customs Breach

Photos of travelers and license plates were stolen in a U.S. Customs breach. A subcontractor for the agency was hacked, but CBP won’t say which one. One hypothesis says it might be Perceptics.

CBP said copies of “license plate images and traveler images collected by CBP” had been transferred to the subcontractor’s company network, violating the contract’s security and privacy rules. The subcontractor’s network was then attacked and breached. No CBP systems were compromised, the agency said. It’s unclear whether passport or facial-recognition photos were included in the breach.

Chuck Joiner Interviews Dave Hamilton After WWDC19

The Mac Observer’s Dave Hamilton recently appeared on Chuck Joiner’s MacVoices show. Fresh from WWDC19, Mr. Hamilton talks about first impressions of the new Mac Pro (and its intended market), macOS Catalina a geek’s perspective (like the separate system volume), and HomeKit-enabled routers. I liked his perspective on the Mac Pro. The thousand-dollar stand got most of the media attention, but it’s a pro device for specific audiences, such as videographers. There’s a reason why Apple kept comparing the Pro Display XDR to a US$43,000 Sony monitor. Mr. Hamilton also knows routers well, and how Apple is acknowledging that other companies do networking hardware better.

Apple TV Strategy by the Numbers

At one time, it was theorized that Apple would make its own TV set, integrated with Apple TV functionality. Instead, Apple has gone one better by seeking to integrate the Apple TV (4K) into TVs made by others. LoupVentures has the strategy and the numbers.

We believe, eventually, many major TVs will embed Apple TV software. This adoption curve may be similar to CarPlay …

Apple’s approach to the living room has been… led by Apple TV which we estimate is now used in 26m US homes monthly (21% of US households). We believe there are 53 million active Apple TVs worldwide.

While this may appear to be the beginning of the end of the Apple TV box, we believe the device will retain unique value. We believe the standalone box will continue …

This is, of course, all about ramping up for Apple TV+ subscriptions.