There’s ANOTHER Streaming Service on The Way

I’m sure you would all agree, that what we need is another streaming service. Thankfully, ViacomCBS are set to answer our call. A new service bringing together content from the newly merged firm is in the works, CNBC reported, creating yet another challenger for Apple TV+.

While ViacomCBS executives haven’t made any firm decisions, they are considering creating a service with advertisements that will combine CBS All Access with Viacom assets including Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures, said the people, who asked not to be named because the product discussions are private. An ad-free version will also be available, and a premium version of the streaming service will include Showtime, the people said. ViacomCBS executives haven’t decided on a name for the service, nor a price, though the base service will probably be less than $10 a month, two of the people said.

Avast Probably Isn't The Only Antivirus Company Selling User Data

In today’s episode of The Mac Observer‘s Daily Observations podcast, Kelly and I did our Security Friday. We talked about two security articles this week, and answered a reader’s question about antivirus programs. I mentioned that people shouldn’t use Avast since it was revealed they collected and sold user data. Now, in the irony of ironies, I got an email today from someone offering me Trend Micro user data.

We have an updated contact list of Trend Micro Users, which can support your marketing campaigns. The database will have access to complete contact information of Trend Micro Users including Emails, Phone number, Mailing address and other relevant data fields. Please let me know your interest in acquiring the list and I will get back to you with counts and pricing. Also, let me know if you are interested in acquiring similar technology users contact list.

That’s a no from me, fam.

Foxconn Staff Told to Stay Away from Shenzhen Factory

The impact of the coronavirus outbreak is continuing to be felt by Apple. Key iPhone assembler Foxconn has now told its works to stay away from its Shenzhen factory, Bloomberg News reported.

The moratorium represents an extreme effort by Apple Inc.’s most important partner to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus that’s paralyzed much of China’s manufacturing. Foxconn’s main iPhone-making base is farther north in Zhengzhou but coastal Shenzhen serves as its Chinese headquarters and the majority of the tens of thousands employed there are out-of-towners. The company also assembles a small portion of iPhones there. “To safeguard everyone’s health and safety and comply with government virus prevention measures, we urge you not to return to Shenzhen,” Foxconn wrote in a text message sent to employees. “We’ll update you on the situation in the city. The company will protect everyone’s work-related rights and interests in the duration. As for the happy reunion date in Shenzhen, please wait for further notice.”

A Solution to Improve iPad Multitasking

Complaints about iPad multitasking have been making the rounds lately, and I largely agree with them. It’s not obvious how to put two apps into Split View mode for example. When I got my iPad Pro I had to look up how to do it. Ryan Christoffel of MacStories came up with a solution, reminiscent of macOS Catalina. As in, long press an app icon and see a menu with options for “Pair Left of App”, “Pair Right of App” etc. I have to say, I do hate this feature in Catalina, where you click on a Safari full screen button to drag it into Split View, but now there’s this same menu. It adds an unnecessary wait to a feature that was previously instant. However, I think it makes sense on the iPad because a long press already required a wait.

With a long-press on any app icon, on both iPhone and iPad, a context menu appears. This same gesture works whether the app icon is in your dock, on your Home screen, or in Search. Context menus currently display options like Edit Home Screen, Show All Windows, and any app-specific quick actions. Let’s add a couple new options that relate to multitasking.