Apple Card iPhone financing is here for unlocked iPhones but the fine print says you’ll still need an account with one of the major carriers.
Caltech Wins $1.1B From Apple and Broadcom Over Patent Infringement
Apple and Broadcom are required to pay the California Institute of Technology US$1.1 billion in damages over patent infringement.
EU Wants a Single Data Market to Challenge Big Tech
The European Union introduced a way to challenge the likes of Big Tech by creating a single market for data.
Measures to achieve that goal include an array of new rules covering cross-border data use, data interoperability and standards related to manufacturing, climate change, the auto industry, healthcare, financial services, agriculture and energy.
Other rules in the coming months will open up more public data on geospatial, the environment, meteorology, statistics and companies’ data across the bloc for companies to use for free.
Facebook Settles Dispute Over Facial Recognition Tech
Facebook has settled a dispute over its use of facial recognition technology, BBC News reports. It will pay $550m to users in Illinois who claimed it was against the state’s privacy laws.
The lawsuit against Facebook was given the go-ahead in 2018 when a federal judge ruled it could be heard as a class action (group) case. The appeals court disagreed with Facebook’s attempts to stop this, and in January the Supreme Court also declined to review its appeal. The social network told the BBC: “We decided to pursue a settlement as it was in the best interests of our community and our shareholders to move past this matter.” Facebook began using facial recognition in the US in 2010 when it automatically tagged people in photos using its tag suggestions tool. The tool scan a user’s face and offered suggestions about who that person is.
Apple TV+ Was DOA And Should End
At Forbes, the writer and analyst John Koetsier outlined his view that Apple TV+ was DOA. He believes the should company cut its losses and end the streaming service. I totally disagree. Given recent awards success, I actually think it is gaining credibility, not losing it. However, it’s always worth reading dissenting opinions.
Now, with 25th mover advantage firmly in its not-so-hip pocket, Apple is trying to present Apple TV (the app, not the service or the device) as a hub for all your video entertainment, whether it’s on Netflix or Amazon Prime or rented from iTunes or — very infrequently — streamed from Apple TV+ (the service, not the app or the hardware). And yes, this is confusing, because Apple TV is hardware: a set-top box. Apple TV is an app on iPhones and Macs. And Apple TV+ is a paid service with Apple-exclusive video entertainment on multiple platforms, including Roku.
Apple Cancels Xnor.ai Pentagon Contract With Project Maven
Shortly after acquiring AI company Xnor.ai, Apple canceled its contract with Project Maven that would use algorithms to analyze military drone imagery.
Apple Hires Netflix Engineer Ruslan Meshenberg
Apple has hired Netflix engineer Ruslan Meshenberg, an important employee who helped build the platform and made it fast and stable.
Don't Miss Out On Your Free Year of Apple TV+
The free trial for Apple TV+, which people who purchased a new device from September 10 2019 qualified for, is coming to an end.
117 Emoji Coming This Year, Like a Mammoth, Dodo, Worm, and More
The Unicode Consortium has approved the first group of new emojis for 2020, known as Emoji 13.0. They feature 117 of the fun symbols, including a mammoth, dodo bird, worm, and a lot more.
As with all new emoji releases, the appearance of each emoji varies by platform. Images shown on this page (and tweet thread) are original designs created by Emojipedia in a glossy style to show one potential way these may look when implemented on major platforms such as iOS, Android, WhatsApp, or Twitter.
How the Windows Team Was “Blinded” by the iPad
Former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky wrote a blog post about how his team were caught off guard by the iPad.
The success of iPhone (140K apps & 3B downloads announced that day) blinded us at Microsoft as to where Apple was heading. Endless rumors of Apple’s tablet *obviously* meant a pen computer based on Mac. Why not? The industry chased this for 20 years. That was our context.
It’s a good read. Everyone expected Apple to compete with netbooks. They did, but not by creating their own Mac netbook.