Apple and Burberry are partnering on a feature called “R Message” that will be integrated within Burberry’s iOS app.
More Info on USB4 and how Fast it Transfers Data
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) published new information today about the upcoming USB4 specification.
AirPod 5-Piece Case Cover and Accessory Pack: $12.99
We have a deal on an AirPod 5-Piece case cover and accessory pack. It includes a case to protect your AirPods case, an anti-loss strap for those times when you might be concerned about losing your AirPods, a watch band holder that holds your AirPods on your watch band, ear tips to provide a comfortable fit and sound isolation, and a carabiner that connects to the case. You can get all that for $12.99 through our deal. I’m linking directly to a black model, but there are also options for pink, red, blue, gray, and yellow.
French Police Defeat Retadup Botnet Infecting 850,000 Computers
French police have defeated a botnet that infected over 850,000 computers. It was created with the Retadup malware. With the help of a web host, they cloned the command & control server and used it to disinfect the zombie computers.
“The malware authors were mostly distributing cryptocurrency miners, making for a very good passive income,” the security company said. “But if they realized that we were about to take down Retadup in its entirety, they might’ve pushed ransomware to hundreds of thousands of computers while trying to milk their malware for some last profits.”
How New York Tries to Recover Lost AirPods
Americans love their AirPods. They also lose them. A lot of them. The Wall Street Journal looked at how New York deals with the issue.
“They’re tiny. They’re hard to find,” said Steven Dluginski, an MTA maintenance supervisor. Given the darkened tracks where they drop, he said, “the only saving grace is that they’re white.” AirPod rescues from New York City subway tracks ramped up in March, when Apple released a new version, Mr. Dluginski said. This summer has been the worst, possibly because the heat and humidity on subway platforms makes the ears and hands of New Yorkers pretty sweaty, he guessed. Transit workers use a pole that extends to about 8 feet and has two rubber cups on the end that can be squeezed together to grab small objects. The “picker-upper thing,” Mr. Dluginski called it.
Apple Can't Become a 'Full-Stack Bank'
Fintech startups are not as disruptive as they might be because they are not “full-stack” companies, Ron Shevlin wrote at Forbes. Can Apple beat them at their own game and became a full-stack bank, he wondered? Probably not.
Apple likes to tout that its new credit card was created “by Apple, not a bank.” I guess we should pay no attention to the folks from Goldman Sachs and MasterCard behind the curtain. Apple’s moves with Apple Card, Apple Pay, and Apple Cash are big moves towards a full(er)-stack bank, but the company is hampered by one big weakness: It’s DNA is in tech products. For all the innovative moves Apple makes across industries like financial services, entertainment, and health, one thing is constant: It wants to sell devices. This prevents Apple from achieving the openness needed to become a full-stack bank.
Gimlet and WSJ Launching New Podcast
Gimlet, the Spotify-owned podcasting firm, and the Wall Street Journal will formally launch their podcast collaboration, ‘The Journal’, today.
iPhone Hack Hits Android and Windows Phones Too
The unprecedented cyber attack on iOS devices revealed last week went well beyond iPhones and was used for surveillance on Uighur civilians.
iOS 13 Code Hints at Apple AR Headset With 'StarBoard'
Code within iOS 13 hints at an Apple AR headset, with a codename called ‘StarBoard’ that can launch apps, similar to iOS’s SpringBoard.
Namely, internal builds of iOS 13 include a “STARTester” app that can switch in and out of a head-mounted mode, presumably to replicate the functionality of an augmented reality headset on an iPhone for testing purposes. There are two head-mounted states for testing, including “worn” and “held.”
Apple Card is 90% Made of Titanium
The Apple Card is made out of titanium, but just how much? Bloomberg Businessweek wanted to know, so they sent one off to an expert to find out.
A Bloomberg Businessweek reporter sent his card to a mineralogist, University of California, Berkeley professor Hans-Rudolf Wenk. Professor Wenk used what’s known as a scanning electron microscope, or SEM device, to determine the card’s atomic makeup. He found that the answer is about 90%. The rest of the card is aluminum, according to the analysis. The Apple Card isn’t the first credit card to be made with metal, as both American Express and Chase offer their own heavy cards, but Apple’s stands out, given the company’s push to market its metallic essence.
