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WeChat Poses Threat to Apple in China

Charlotte Henry ·

WeChat, a mix of a messaging, social media, and e-payment app from Tencent, seems to flout App Store rules. But it is so ubiquitous in China that Apple has to let this slide. AppleInsider, picking up on reporting from The Information, looked at the problems this could pose for Apple in the country.

WeChat itself is an app, but within it, users can open what maker Tencent calls mini-programs. Right from the start, it appears that Apple recognized the potential for mini-programs to offer App Store-style services without playing by App Store rules. According to The Information, a team from Tencent visited Apple around 2017 specifically to reassure Tim Cook that mini-programs were not apps. That mini-programs were not a threat. The argument then was that these mini-programs were limited in functionality and did not even attempt to compete with full-blown apps. Now, however, they do. Some mini-programs include live video streaming, and even augmented reality.

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Zoom: Don’t Want to Get Routed Through Chinese Servers? Fork Over Your Cash

Andrew Orr ·

One of Zoom’s controversies is how it routes some of its network traffic through China’s servers. If you’re privacy conscious, you can opt out of specific data center regions starting April 18. But this is only for paying customers.

This feature gives our customers more control over their data and their interaction with our global network when using Zoom’s industry-leading video communication services.

I can’t say I agree. It’s not about making privacy a paid feature, it’s that Zoom is exploiting its own insecurity to create a paid feature. Next step: Making end-to-end encryption a paid feature, and leaving free users to fend for themselves.

Podcast

Novelist Christopher Moore - TMO BGM Interview

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Christopher Moore is the author of 17 novels, including Lamb, Coyote Blue, The Serpent of Venice, The Stupidest Angel, and NOIR. Chris published his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, and his latest novel, Shakespeare For Squirrels, will be released on May 12th.

We chatted at length about how Chris came to be a very successful novelist. I asked about the influence of author Harlan Ellison as well as his favorite and best selling novels. We explored his writing technique as we delved into two of my own favorite novels, The Stupidest Angel and NOIR. ( He writes on his Mac and uses Scrivener to outline and MS Word to compose. ) If you love Chris’s work, you’ll be entranced by his charming anecdotes in this stellar interview.

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UK Government Memo Discussed De-Anonymizing Contact Tracing App Users

Andrew Orr ·

On today’s episode of Daily Observations, we explained what contact tracing is. Now that I understand the technology, I’m okay with it at this early stage. But of course there are still privacy implications, this being one of them. The UK is planning to build an app that works with contact tracing, but a leaked memo shows a discussion about de-anonymizing users.

However, the memo stated that “more controversially” the app could use device IDs, which are unique to all smartphones, “to enable de-anonymisation if ministers judge that to be proportionate at some stage”. It did not say why ministers might want to identify app users, or under what circumstances doing so would be proportionate.

Cool Stuff Found

Stunning iPhone 12 Pro Concept Video Looks at What Could be on The Way

Charlotte Henry ·

There have been loads of iPhone 12 rumors. What features will we see? When will we see it? Well, I don’t have the answer to those questions, but Donel Bagrov and Anton Panton have created a stunning concept video for an iPhone 12 Pro. The clip looks at what we might expect in the next generation of pro-level Apple smartphones. The concept includes things like a pro retina XDR display, an under display camera, the A14 Bionic 5nm chip, and reverse charging.