Chick-fil-A has been experiencing big drive-thru lines during the pandemic and it’s using Apple technology to speed it up.
The chain stands out from the drive-thru crowd in large part thanks to its workers with iPads who take orders from cars even before they reach the window.
“Some restaurants are using [FaceTime] during extreme weather as another measure to protect Team Members and/or for additional social distancing during COVID,” Chick-fil-A said in a statement.
Some M1 Mac users have started to highlight hard drive health reports that might possibly indicate severe life span problems for the device. iMore rounded up some of the issues.
The issue of ‘TBW’, or total bytes written, refers to the lifespan of an SSD… If the readings being given out from these machines is correct, developer Hector Martin says it could indicate that some machines “aren’t going to last half a year”… Martin does however state this is “definitely” a bug, however its unclear if that relates to the readings being given, or macOS behavior which is causing the readings to be abnormally high (but accurate). As PC Gamer notes in its report, smart monitoring tools “are notorious for misreporting” and this could be an M1 teething problem.
We have a deal on the TEZL 1080P HD Webcam with Privacy Cover. This device features a 1″ x 2.7″ 2MP image sensor and 3.6M lens for 1920x1080p video resolution even in dim light or poor backlighting settings. It also has a built-in microphone with automatic noise reduction. And, there’s the physical privacy cover to prevent the camera from being used. It’s $29.99 through our deal.
Cryptee is an end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service and announced a huge update on Sunday.
We’ve re-designed the entire platform, re-engineered everything from ground up, added hundreds of new features, and created an entirely new Cryptee experience for you. Along the way we’ve realized it’s going to be a massive leap forward, so we thought we should get a new logo too.
I think Cryptee is a great service and one that I’ve recommended in the past.
Over the weekend we got news of a mysterious piece of malware called Silver Sparrow. It has infected 30,000 machines so far and there is a version of it built for M1 Macs. But security researchers can’t figure out its purpose.
Once an hour, infected Macs check a control server to see if there are any new commands the malware should run or binaries to execute. So far, however, researchers have yet to observe delivery of any payload on any of the infected 30,000 machines, leaving the malware’s ultimate goal unknown. The lack of a final payload suggests that the malware may spring into action once an unknown condition is met.
2020 was “Apple’s top year of innovation ever,” according to CEO Tim Cook. He made the comments in an interview with students at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, picked up on by AppleInsider.
“There’s no one formula for innovation,” Cook said. “What we do is we have a culture of creativity and a culture of collaboration. These two things together, when they intersect, create enormous innovation.” He said that diversity and inclusion foster an environment for innovation, that diverse people feed off of each other. Shijie commented on the iPhone 12 and congratulated Cook on the new devices and features. Cook responded by commenting on the innovations Apple released throughout 2020.
NVIDIA has said it will make its GPUs less economical to cryptocurrency miners, reducing its efficiency in processing Ethereum transactions by around half. The chipmaker wants to make sure its products, “end up in the hands of gamers,” BBC News reported.
Nvidia said the software for its forthcoming GeForce RTX 3060 card will limit how efficiently it can process Ethereum transactions by about 50%. This will make it less economical for miners to use the card for mining Ethereum. Nvidia said it had focused on Ethereum because it “has the highest global mining yield for any GPU-mineable coin at the moment and thus is likely the main demand driver for GPUs in mining”. However, it has also decided to sell a range of crypto-currency mining processors (CMPs). Nvidia said the production of its CMPs would not impact the availability of its graphics cards.
9to5 Mac has picked up on reports of a new Apple Watch heart study. It is being run by University Health Network (UHN) in Canada and aims to discover how the wearable “can drive better clinical outcomes for heart failure patients.”
The UHN Apple Watch heart study will be led by renowned Canadian cardiologist Dr. Heather Ross, of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. The length of the study will be three months and will be done in collaboration with Apple to see “if remote monitoring with Apple Watch can help with early identification of worsening heart failure.” Notably, the new Blood Oxygen sensor and app is part of this study which means participants will be using the Apple Watch Series 6.
Before Tim Cook there was Del Yocam. He was Apple’s first Chief Operating Officer, the role held by Mr. Cook prior to becoming CEO. In a fascinating interview with Cult of Mac, he discussed mentoring Steve Jobs and Apple’s early days.
He also served as an early mentor to Steve Jobs, the young Apple co-founder who sometimes seemed out of his depth in 1979. “When I first got to know him, he was lost,” Yocam told Cult of Mac. “He was no longer involved in the Apple II and no one wanted him around, especially management. He didn’t care about money at that time. He was like an orphan, living away from home.” In many ways, Yocam was the proto-Tim Cook, a manufacturing and operations specialist who helped transform a dysfunctional startup into a massive, moneymaking leader of the early PC industry. He also helped take the rapidly growing company international.
New data shows that Chrome OS has overtaken macOS to become the second most popular desktop OS. Chrome OS rose from 6.4% in 2019 to 10.8% in 2020.
Despite the fact that macOS landed in third, viewing this as an example of Google beating out Apple directly might not be accurate. Rather, it’s likely that Chrome OS has been primarily pulling sales and market share away from Windows at the low end of the market. Mac market share actually grew from 6.7 percent in 2019 to 7.5 percent in 2020.
We have a deal on a MiFi-Certified nylon-braided Lightning cable. It features Kevlar fiber core, nylon-braiding, and precision laser welding, and it’s $9.99 through our deal.
At the BBC’s request, email service “Hey” analyzed its traffic and found two-thirds of emails sent to users contained a spy pixel.
Defenders of the trackers say they are a commonplace marketing tactic. This information can then be used to determine the impact of a specific email campaign, as well as to feed into more detailed customer profiles. Hey’s co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson says they amount to a “grotesque invasion of privacy”. And other experts have also questioned whether companies are being as transparent as required under law about their use.
These pixels are tiny 1×1 images embedded in photos that can track a variety of data points. You could turn off “Load Remote Images” automatically in Settings > Mail, but then of course they would load along with other photos when you want to see them.
Quad9 is a non-profit DNS provider, so called because of its 9.9.9.9 DNS server. It announced on Wednesday it has moved its headquarters from California to Zürich, Switzerland supported by Packet Clearing House and SWITCH.
Quad9’s move to Switzerland is being facilitated by SWITCH, one of Switzerland‘s centers of competence for internet security. The foundation operates several critical infrastructures and has been committed to greater cybersecurity for decades to make the internet a more secure place for its users. SWITCH is taking a seat on Quad9’s foundation council and contributing to Quad9’s governance.
Interesting move. For many people, private services and companies located in a country like the U.S. is a negative. This is because of the Five Eyes Alliance.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for displays with multiple refresh rate modes. It was spotted by Patently Apple.
Apple notes that displays may be operable at a native refresh rate that is equal to the highest refresh rate at which the display has full resolution. When operating at the native refresh rate, each row of pixels may be scanned sequentially. Displays may also be operable in a high refresh rate mode with a high refresh rate. In the high refresh rate mode, the display may operate at a refresh rate that is twice the native refresh rate, three times the native refresh rate, or four times the native refresh rate (as examples). The native refresh rate may be 120 Hz and the high refresh rate may be 240 Hz, as one example. The native refresh rate may be 60 Hz and the high refresh rate may be 120 Hz, 180 Hz, or 240 Hz, as another example.
LastPass announced a move to restrict free users of its password manager. Starting March 16 these users will be limited to one device type.
LastPass offers access across two device types – computers (including all browsers running on desktops and laptops) or mobile devices (including mobile phones, smart watches, and tablets). Starting March 16th, 2021, LastPass Free will only include access on unlimited devices of one type.
As alternatives I recommend 1Password as well as the open-source app, Bitwarden.
We have a deal on the NYTSTND QUAD, a 4-in-1 charging station that lets you wirelessly charge 3 devices at once with a 5-coil full surface area and built-in MiFi-Certified Apple Watch magnetic charger. It also features an integrated Lightning (or USB-C port) port is available for charging another Apple device while using it. this device is $185.99 through our deal.
The African American Film Critics Association has chosen to present Mariah Carey with a special achievement award. CEO and President Gil Robertson told Variety why, and the reasons include offering the kind of positivity projected in her Apple TV+ Christmas special.
Though the multitalented superstar had a big year with the release of her memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey” and her “Magical Christmas Special” on Apple TV Plus, Robertson says it was the songstress’ mix of positivity and longevity that led to the the special recognition. “Given a career of her magnitude, we really could have done it anytime. At this point, she’s more than earned the right to be recognized at some point,” he explains. “When members spoke about the impact of her videos and how much they meant to them, we thought ‘Let’s recognize her because she’s always projected a lot of positive energy, which we definitely need now during the pandemic and coming out of the last four years.’” “She’s also presented opportunities behind the camera for a lot of Black technicians and creatives; it’s all about being able to open the door for others and she’s certainly done that and provided job opportunities to Black crews and other Black creators,” he says.
Microsoft has started testing its xCloud game streaming service through a web browser, according to The Verge. This opens up the possibility it will work on iPhones and iPads.
Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans tell The Verge that employees are now testing a web version of xCloud ahead of a public preview. The service allows Xbox players to access their games through a browser, and opens up xCloud to work on devices like iPhones and iPad. Much like how xCloud currently works on Android tablets and phones, the web version includes a simple launcher with recommendations for games, the ability to resume recently played titles, and access to all the cloud games available through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Once you launch a game it will run fullscreen, and you’ll need a controller to play Xbox games streamed through the browser.
Pandora announced a new feature for its music stations called Artist Takeovers. It features music handpicked by a different artist with special audio commentary.
The new Artist Takeover series began rolling out in recent months with Shawn Mendes, Chris Stapleton, and more. Artist Takeover Modes are a pop-up experience on stations, and selections from each carry over into Pandora Stories playlists for continued listening.
Artist Takeovers are an extension of Pandora Modes, a feature allowing you to customize your listening experience on favorite Pandora stations by offering a set of selectable “modes” that give more control over the kinds of songs that are played.
I think this sounds like a great feature. It brings to mind guest stars on Apple Radio 1.
I’ve long been skeptical about the ongoing value of the Apple TV in a smart TV world. Over at Six Colors, Jason Snell pondered the same thing and looked at where, if anywhere, the box can go next.
For a long time, the killer feature of the Apple TV was that it did things that no other streaming device could do. It supported AirPlay and screen mirroring, for beaming video right from Apple devices to the big screen. And most importantly, it was the only box that supported movies and TV shows rented or purchased from Apple. But over the past couple of years, most of those distinctions have faded away. First, the arrival of the Movies Anywhere service has allowed most iTunes film (not television) purchases to migrate to other devices. Then in advance of the arrival of Apple’s TV streaming service, Apple made deals with the makers of TV sets and streaming boxes to add support for AirPlay, an Apple TV app, or both.
The (very) small pool of people that I know who have one love it, but various bits of data indicate that the iPhone 12 mini is not selling well. Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac wrote that this relative failure indicates Apple should not make a 5.4′ iPhone again. Ever. I think it gets to the heart of the debate about your smartphone is for – making calls and replying to emails, or content consumption/creation.
Apple’s top-selling models aren‘t its smallest. On the contrary. The 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max — the largest ever — experienced a stronger launch than any iOS handset has in years. The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro has since emerged as the top seller, not the tiniest version. This is because of the way we use our phones. They’re personal computers we carry everywhere. With them, we communicate with each other. Take pictures. Shop. Play games. Watch videos. And a bigger screen makes all of these better. “Wish I had a smaller display to watch this TikTok,” said no one ever.
Talk about a potential Apple Car continues apace. One of the key questions is who will be the partner that actually makes the vehicle – Hyundai and Kia said recently that talks with them are not happening. Bloomberg News has a good rundown of the potential candidates.
The secret project has gained momentum in recent months, adding multiple former Tesla Inc. executives, gaining the supervision of Apple’s top artificial intelligence executive and ramping up road tests. The initiative, known as Project Titan inside Apple, is attracting intense interest because of its potential to upend the automotive industry and supply chains, much like the iPhone did to the smartphone market. If and when Apple commits to building a car, it is likely to seek multiple partners — including a major one to assemble the vehicle and many others to supply key components.
HBO Max is going to launch internationally in June, The Verge reported. It will start in Latin America and the Caribbean, and they later become available in the Nordics, Spain, Central Europe, and Portugal. At the moment the streaming service is only available in the U.S.
The June launch will see HBO Max expand to 39 countries and territories across Latin America and the Caribbean, including Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, B.V.I., Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Google has added new editing features to its Photos app on iOS, including video editing. New editing features will be available exclusively to Google One members.
Starting today, we’re bringing some of the editing features currently available on Pixel to Google One members as a part of their membership. These effects transform your portraits using machine learning: with Portrait Blur, you can blur the background post-snap, and with Portrait Light, you can improve the lighting on faces in portraits. Both features work for photos just taken or images from the past — even if the original image wasn’t taken in portrait mode.
