The Origins of Unix - Now 50 Years Old

ars technica has posted at terrific story by Richard Jensen on the origins of the Unix operating system back in the late 1960s.

Maybe its pervasiveness has long obscured its origins. But Unix, the operating system that in one derivative or another powers nearly all smartphones sold worldwide, was born 50 years ago from the failure of an ambitious project that involved titans like Bell Labs, GE, and MIT.

A derivative of the original Unix OS, in the family tree of BSD, is the basis for macOS, iOS, and is even running in your Apple Watch.

Rumors Still Live for Apple's Bluetooth Tile Competitor

Apple announced a feature at WWDC 2019 that would let devices running iOS 13 and macOS Catalina to broadcast their location even when offline. The same technology is rumored to show up in a Bluetooth tracking device similar to Tile.

This small beacon device could be attached to personal items such as keys, purses or wallets so that the owner could find them even when out of range of the items. An ARKit “star” image discovered in the Find My app bundle hints at the possibility of using augmented reality to find lost devices or items, similar to Pixie Tracker.

India Just Passed a Law That Will Help Apple

As part of a new proposal, India said that single-brand retail companies like Apple can open online stores before they set up physical stores in the country.

This would allow Apple, which has yet to set up retail stores in the country, to start selling a range of products through its own online store. Currently, Apple sells its products in India through partnered third-party offline retailers and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon India, Flipkart and Paytm Mall.

India is Apple’s next—and perhaps last—country for big potential growth in the electronics market. Keep a close eye on this relationship in the future. I expect Apple to build data centers and other resources in the country, if they don’t have such things already.

Annapurna Interactive to Launch 'If Found..." Game in 2020

Annapurna Interactive will release what they call an “interactive novel” game in 2020. It’s called If Found... and will launch on PC, macOS, and iOS.

In the game, players enter the mind of Kasio, a young, rebellious and creative soul who is destroying her diary on New Year’s Eve. To discover her story and uncover her secrets, players must erase her words and her memories. In this vivid and honest depiction of the West of Ireland in the early 1990s, players explore Kasio’s world through her torn up memories, like moving into an abandoned mansion, hanging out with the band, going to a punk show, breaking into Kasio’s own house, destroying the universe, and finding out who Kasio can be.

Check out the YouTube trailer below.

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