Apple may be in violation of its own rules for developers with its new News+ service. It demands that developers make it extremely clear if users are signing up for a recurring payment and how they can cancel. However, with Apple News+  cancelling is not as clear as its regulations indicate it should be. As The Verge noted, it’s not the first time such an issue has arisen.

Just tap that “Try it Free” button, confirm your payment, and you’re off to the races. Thing is, Apple forbids developers from making things seem quite this simple, as spotted by iOS developer Dave DeLong…Fr whatever reason, Apple decided that a cleaner, more attractive layout, one that hides some of the information it asks of developers, was the right choice for Apple News Plus.

It is fair to say M.G. Siegler was not particular won over by the ‘It’s Show Time’ event. Having started to put together his thoughts, the longtime Apple watcher (he’s seen every event for the last decade, ) concluded that it was “weird.” He also thought it was way too long. His comments on the new services offered are insightful though.

As expected, there was very little technology in today’s marquee portion (beyond some existing technology and UI polish). It was just about content and star-power. Perhaps my time spent in Hollywood left me more cynical than most, but I found the whole thing silly. Apple unveiled the iFawn — Tim Cook was literally crying on stage with Oprah at one point? Come on.

One thing we were expecting but didn’t get at the event Monday was a bundled packed of all Apple’s services. Macworld‘s Leif Johnson noted that if both TV+ and Arcade cost $9.99, like Music and News+  do, then that is 4 different payments totalling $40. Not only is that expensive, but it is also more complicated for customers than it needs to be. The obvious model to be emulated is that of Amazon Prime – a monthly payment with everything included. It is not too hard to implement, so it might yet happen.

It’s a problem that a good subscription bundle from Apple would help solve, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to predict that we’ll see such a bundle when Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade both drop sometime in the fall (possibly alongside the release of the next version of iOS). Indeed, if we look at its competitors, Apple appears to be dragging its feet…”

We’ve got a few details about Peter Stern, a former cable TV executive who now leads Apple’s new subscriptions.

Stern will not be able to rest on his laurels. Though some of the services announced Monday are brand new, and some, such as Apple TV+, are months away from even launching, observers are already expecting that Stern will eventually cobble them together into an Amazon Prime-esque bundle.

University of Montreal Professor Yoshua Bengio, Google researcher Geoff Hinton, and Facebook’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun have won the Turing Award for their work in AI. Wired noted that receiving the award, known as the Nobel Prize of computer science, demonstrates how far into the mainstream AI has become.

The trio’s journey is a parable of scientific grit and case study in the economic value of new forms of computing. Through decades of careful research out of the limelight, they transformed an old-fashioned, marginalized idea into the hottest in computer science….Asked what winning the Turing Award means, Hinton expresses mock surprise. “I guess neural networks are now respectable computer science,” he says. The joke is that in computer science, there isn’t anything more respectable than a Turing Award.

Apple TV+ is unlike any other product the company has released before. However, as Jason Snell pointed out on MacWorld, it knows about branding better than almost anyone, and that could give it a fighting chance of succeeding. There can be an ethos that underscores the new content. My colleague John Martellaro made a similar point when he wrote about the underlying values that came through at the ‘It’s Show Time’ event Monday.

Apple does bring its brand along with it, and that can help inform the feel of the content Apple produces. Apple’s self-image, as seen through its commercials and promotional videos, is optimistic and bright and creative. The lengthy scripted portion of the Apple TV+ roll-out hit a lot of the same points, and while it’s safe to say that I never need to hear the word “storytelling” again, I think Apple was trying to establish an ethos and style for what an Apple TV+ show represents.

Remember that rumor about wireless Powerbeats? Turns out it was real. They’re called Powerbeats Pro and will include the H1 chip.

Given that the new Powerbeats Pro looks and works similar to AirPods, they could be the solution for those who’ve been waiting for a black version of AirPods, which some expected to come with the second generation released last week.

I’d still rather have black AirPods.

Apple and Qualcomm’s epic legal battle appears to be reaching the end. Amongst all their disagreements, they see eye-to-eye on the importance of 5G in the U.S. With a key ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission expected tomorrow, Bloomberg News reported on the very high-stakes for both firms.

A ruling from the trade commission favoring Apple could undermine Qualcomm’s attempts to defend its business model and keep on charging billions of dollars in technology licensing fees. If Qualcomm prevails, Apple may face restrictions on its ability to import and sell some versions of the iPhone, the main source of its revenue…. The fear in Washington that China will get a global lead in 5G is being stoked by both Apple and Qualcomm to try to win the epic legal battle over technology that currently underpins all smartphones.

LONDON – Britain’s departure from the EU has been delayed. Brexit was supposed to happen this Friday, but, depending on what happens in Parliament this week, will take place on either April 12th or May 22nd. An April 12th departure would mean Parliament had not agreed on a deal and a ‘No Deal’ Brexit was happening. That would see the return of roaming charges for Brits in Europe Wired reported. It will mean using your iPhone in Europe will become much more expensive.

The plan to reinstate roaming charges has been confirmed by the European Commission as part of documents outlining its preparations for the UK crashing out of the EU. “As it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April, the European Commission has today completed its ‘no-deal’ preparations,” the Commission said in a statement…The Commission’s documents outline 19 legislative proposals covering everything from financial services to climate policy.

Chemical firms Hexion and Momentive have been hit by a huge Ransomware attack and forced to order hundreds of new computers. Motherboard saw an email from Momentive CEO Jack Boss that referred to a “global IT outage” and the need to deploy “swat teams.” As well as ordering new devices, Momentive has given some employees new email addresses, as theirs remain inaccessible. The attackers left a message demanding payment in Bitcoin.

Based on the ransom message, the ransomware that hit Hexion and Momentive appears to be LockerGoga, the same ransomware that forced an aluminum manufacturing giant Norsk Hydro to shut down its worldwide network this week…On the day of the attack, some of the companies’ Windows computers were hit with a blue screen error and their files encrypted, said the current employee, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to the press. “Everything [went down]. Still no network connection, email, nothing.”