John Martellaro and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to talk about port differentials on MacBook models and Apple’s macOS bug bounty.
Apple Watch Dominates Growing Smartwatch Market
Global smartwatch sales were up 44 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2019, with the Apple Watch dominating the field.
4 New ASMR Videos From Apple
Apple released a number of shot on iPhone ASMR videos which give the viewer a tingling sensation on the skin and helps relax them.
Amazon Helps Cops Get Ring Surveillance Videos Without Warrants
A couple weeks ago I shared news that Amazon is requiring police to promote its Ring surveillance cameras. Not that bad, I thought, because at least the police had to have the owner’s permission. But I was optimistic, because Amazon is giving police talking points on how to persuade owners, and even seizing the video footage if the owner said no.
As reported by GovTech on Friday, police can request Ring camera footage directly from Amazon, even if a Ring customer denies to provide police with the footage. It’s a workaround that allows police to essentially “subpoena” anything captured on Ring cameras.
Things like government surveillance and hacking are precisely why I will never buy smart home products. Update: A Ring spokesperson emailed me a correction: The reports that police can obtain any video from a Ring doorbell within 60 days is false. Ring will not release customer information in response to government demands without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Ring objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.
Apple's Teacher Coding Academies Created Successful Apps
Teachers that join Apple’s Teacher Coding Academies have been making a difference with the apps that they create.
PDF Expert 7 Pro Features Cost $50 Yearly
Readdle is launching PDF Expert 7, and Pro features are now a subscription of US$49.99/year. There are still free features available, but if you want to do anything other than viewing a PDF, you’ll have to pay. Free Features: New design; better page management; sticker packs; improved engine that now runs on Metal; Files app integration; advanced search; new Annotation Summary tool. Pro Features: Edit PDF text and images; convert to PDF; reduce PDF file size; organize pages; sign PDFs; protect PDFs with a password; customizable toolbar; regular major updates. If you bought the PDF Expert 6 pro features, you’ll still have them in PDF Expert 7. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)
Japan Wants FTC to Investigate Apple Over Unfair Contracts
Japanese suppliers want the Fair Trade Commission to investigate Apple after saying they were forced to sign unfair contracts with the company.
Twitter Just Shared Your Data With Advertisers Without Consent
Twitter recently discovered a problem that caused it to send certain data to advertisers under certain conditions without your permission.
Create an Email Filter for Your Bank So You Won't Miss Important Messages
David Murphy has a good tip: Create an email filter for your bank so you don’t miss important messages like fraud alerts.
Get specific when you set your filters, because you don’t want to accidentally drag in phishing emails that are attempting to pose as your bank. This shouldn’t be a problem if your email service is good about eradicating spam but, when in doubt, I’d probably try to set a combined filter for emails from your bank’s exact domain that contain the word “fraud,” rather than just a filter that catches subject lines with “your bank’s name” and “fraud.”
Arlo Cameras Get HomeKit Support
Smart camera firm Arlo has added HomeKit support to some of its products, DigitalTrends reported. Interestingly, the top-of-the line Arlo Ultra 4K was not amongst the cameras that got the update.
Unfortunately for buyers of the company’s top-of-the-line cameras, the new connectivity to HomeKit only applies to select Arlo cameras, specifically the popular Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2 systems. Owners of the VMB5000 model and the corresponding Arlo Ultra 4K will have to wait a bit longer to add their smart cameras to Apple’s smart home ecosystem. On the bright side, the firmware update reduces the need for Apple HomeKit users to use the Arlo app or its corresponding remote control. The select models of Arlo smart cameras will appear in the directory of other HomeKit accessories in a user’s Home app and can also be controlled using Apple’s digital assistant, Siri, via an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch,or Mac computer.