In January Apple released an iOS update that enabled Group FaceTime. There was a security flaw with it that Apple was sued over.
Apple Pay Hungary and Luxembourg Close to Launch
Apple Pay Hungary and Luxembourg are close to launching, following an expansion to Iceland and coming soon to the Netherlands.
Rare Apple-1 Set to go For High Price at Auction
On May 16, a rare Apple-1 will be put up for an online-only auction run by prestigious British auctioneers, Christies. AppleInsider reported that it could fetch as much as $630,000.
An interesting example, Apple-1 motherboard serial number 01-0053 is housed in the bottom section of a briefcase, hidden by a makeshift aluminum control panel featuring a Datanetics keyboard. Built by hand in 1976, the board is thought to be among an original batch of Apple-1 units sold through Mountain View, Calif., computer store Byte Shop. It sports a white ceramic MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor, selected by Steve Wozniak to power Apple’s first computer, as well as 8K bytes RAM split between two 4K chips and two original Triad power supply modules.
Nike Fit Could Mean No More Shoes That Don't Fit
Nike has always been keen to use tech to innovate sportswear. Wired reported that with its new scanning technology, the company believes it has solved the problem is ill-fitting shoes.
The scanning tech uses the now familiar combination of computer vision, machine learning and recommendation algorithms to find your right fit in every Nike shoe style. But going beyond the traditional measurements of length and width, Nike Fit uses 13 points of measurement (though Nike says they system can take up to 32) including measuring the “toe box”, where it takes into account whether the splay of your toes will have enough room in your choice of trainers. The app is then supposedly able to recommend your best fit.
Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa Documentary
Before Macintosh is an Apple Lisa documentary on Kickstarter exploring the history behind Apple’s device.
The work of Douglas Engelbart and his team, plus advances from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) with their Alto and Star workstations were the progenitors of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), but the Apple Lisa stands as the clear foundation for what we all use today — Macintosh — Windows — iOS — Android.
The campaign goal is US$3,600, and it has raised US$2,401 so far.
Google Podcasts Comes to iOS in the Web
Last year Google announced its podcasting service called Google Podcasts. Today iOS users can find and listen to them within Google search.
Alexa Keeps Text Trancripts of Deleted Recordings
Users can delete voice recordings stored by Alexa. However, Amazon still keeps the text transcript, CNet reported, raising a host of privacy concerns.
When you check your Alexa dialogue history, you can see text next to the recordings like “How’s the Weather” and “Set an Alarm.”Amazon lets you delete those voice recordings, giving you a false sense of privacy. But the company still has that data, just not as a sound bite. It keeps the text logs of the transcribed audio on its cloud servers, with no option for you to delete them. Amazon said it erases the text transcripts from Alexa’s “main system,” but is working on removing them from other areas where the data can travel.
Jony Ive Explains The Rainbow at Apple Park
Design guru Jony Ive has revealed more details on the thinking behind the rainbow stage that has appeared in the heart of Apple Park.
BMW Owners Suffer ConnectedDrive Outage, Affects CarPlay
Some BMW owners have suffered a ConnectedDrive outage, and it affects CarPlay.
What seems to be happening is that because of the ConnectedDrive outage, cars are unable to confirm that users have paid for the CarPlay option in their vehicle. Because the car can’t make that authentication, BMW owners have no access to CarPlay, nor the other ConnectedDrive features.
BMW has purportedly acknowledged the ConnectedDrive outage to customers, but has yet to comment publicly or offer any sort of timetable on when the issue might be resolved.
UK Royals Launch Mobile Mental Health Crisis Service
The Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex launched a new text messaging support helpline for those suffering a mental health crisis.
