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US Government Appeals Injunction Against TikTok Ban

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. government is appealing an injunction from S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols that blocked its ban of TikTok.

The Trump administration had raised concerns over the video-sharing app due to its Chinese ownership by way of parent company ByteDance, and the potential risk of TikTok’s U.S. user data being accessed by the Chinese government.

[…]

Judge Nichols in the separate case led by TikTok ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in trying to ban the app from the U.S., referring to the agency’s action as “arbitrary and capricious.”

Cool Stuff Found

'Soul' on Disney+ is a Holiday Hit

Charlotte Henry ·

Soul has arrived on Disney+ and, I don’t know about you, but all my social media timelines are filled with people saying how much they love it. It stars Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey, and tells the story of Joe, a musician who lands a gig at the best Jazz club in town. There is also a load of related extras available within the streaming service. The score is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Cool Stuff Found

Buy Knock-Off Solo Loop Watch Bands for 80% Off Apple's Pricing

Dave Hamilton ·

Every time Apple comes out with a new style of watch band, FOMO tells me to order one. Unfortunately, my wallet often disagrees (and wins that argument), as was the case with Apple’s US$49 Solo Loop and $99 Braided Solo Loop bands introduced this fall. Never fear, though, Amazon to the rescue! There are plenty of companies who sell knockoffs of Apple’s Watch band designs, many of which have proven to be of spectacular quality over the years. The $12 Solo Loop and $20 Braided Solo Loop clones my family found in our Christmas stockings last week were no exception. First, download (and print) Apple’s Solo Loop Watch Band Size Guide, then check ’em out and place your orders. Final step: enjoy!

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That Video of an Apple Car Parking is Fake

Andrew Orr ·

There was a video making the rounds on social media recently showing an Apple Car with bizarre, round wheels. As The Drive points out, such wheels are physically impossible. The car is a 3D model of a Mercedes concept vehicle.

If you take a hard look at one about the imaginary Apple Car, you’ll see the shadows don’t match up and it’s low resolution, which camouflages the CGI seams you might spot otherwise. But still, you can bet that right now, someone is searching “Apple car” and trying to figure out a way to get on the waiting list. They’ll stand outside of the Apple store all night if they have to.

Podcast

Time Capsule Replacements, Quick Tips, & Cool Stuff Found — Mac Geek Gab 850

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

Apple’s Time Machine lets you backup to a network drive… but which network drive should you use now that Apple no longer sells a Time Capsule? John and Dave are here to answer this question and many, many more! Listen as your two favorite geeks answer all the questions YOU sent in this week, plus sharing Quick Tips and Cool Stuff Found to give you lots to think about… and to get! Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things about your Mac, iPhone, and other tech.

News

Happy Holidays 2020 from The Mac Observer!

Bryan Chaffin ·

Whether you’re into Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Solstice, or any end-of-the-year holiday, The Mac Observer hopes this is a wonderful time for you. We’re taking Thursday and Friday off this year, but we’ll be back on Monday, December 28th, with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Media, and probably even car coverage, along with a fresh TMO Daily Observations episode.

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Fashion App ‘21 Buttons’ Exposes Data of European Influencers

Andrew Orr ·

An e-commerce app called 21 Buttons has exposed the private data of hundreds of people across Europe.

Among the millions of photos and videos, we also viewed hundreds of invoices detailing payments to users in the 21 Buttons Rewards program, covering the last few months. Some of these invoices appear to be test data, but many of them were definitely legitimate invoices detailing real records of payments made.

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Cellebrite Has Not Broken Signal’s Encryption

Andrew Orr ·

On Tuesday, security company Cellebrite claimed to have broken the encryption that Signal uses to keep user communication safe. The blog post has since been removed, but the BBC has an archived version here. But Signal says that claim isn’t true.

It is important to understand that any story about Cellebrite Physical Analyzer starts with someone other than you physically holding your device, with the screen unlocked, in their hands. Cellebrite does not even try to intercept messages, voice/video, or live communication, much less “break the encryption” of that communication. They don’t do live surveillance of any kind.

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How Apple Thrived After Not Buying Tesla

Charlotte Henry ·

A while back, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that he had “reached out to Tim Cook” about buying his company. Obviously, that never happened. A missed opportunity for Apple? Liam Denning, writing for Bloomberg News, doesn’t think so.

Is Cook kicking himself for not buying Tesla when he had the chance? I suspect that, in some well-appointed office deep inside the Apple Park donut, the soft thud of self-kicking is not to be heard. Musk may well have “reached out.” On the other hand, the gossamer-veiled dig at Cook’s apparent short-sightedness contained in the Tesla CEO’s tweet suggests this may be more about taking the shine off Apple’s rumored vehicle ambitions. Musk has been known to lash out on Twitter. There is also some history here, given Musk once dissed Apple as a “graveyard” for defecting Tesla employees. That was a few years before he apparently reached out to the chief gravedigger.

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Facebook Thinks It's Defending Small Firms Against Apple. Not All Its Employees Agree.

Charlotte Henry ·

Facebook recently ran a high-profile ad campaign against Apple. The social media giant said changes to iOS privacy rules would hurt small businesses. According to Buzzfeed News, its employees don’t necessarily agree.

While the $750 billion company’s public relations effort has presented a united front with small businesses, some Facebook employees complained about what they called a self-serving campaign that bordered on hypocrisy, according to internal comments and audio of a presentation to workers that were obtained by BuzzFeed News. A change in Apple’s iOS 14 mobile operating system — which requires iPhone owners to opt in to allow companies to track them across other apps and websites — hurts Facebook, some employees argued on the company’s private message boards, and their employer was just using small businesses as a shield. “It feels like we are trying to justify doing a bad thing by hiding behind people with a sympathetic message,” one engineer wrote in response to an internal post about the campaign from Dan Levy, Facebook’s vice president for ads.

TMO Deals

MOGICS Coconut Portable Waterproof Light: $36.95

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the MOGICS Coconut, a waterproof portable light that floats. It features four brightness modes, an internal, rechargeable battery, and self-inflates. This device is $36.95 through our deal. There are also options for two Coconuts, as well as multicolor options.

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Should Apple Open its NFC Chip to Third Parties?

Andrew Orr ·

Karen Webster writes about Apple’s position in the payments industry and how Apple’s restriction of its NFC chip has hurt consumers.

Granted, it’s always hard to prove a negative, but not having access to the NFC chip has likely prevented innovators from investing time and money in developing the innovations that could have made the in-store POS experience better for iPhone users. And since iPhone users skew more to the affluent, it also denied those innovators the opportunity to monetize their spend.

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VW Boss Welcomes ‘New Competitors’ Following Apple Car Reports

Charlotte Henry ·

VW CEO Herbert Diess has welcomed “new competitors” following the latest Apple Car reports.  He made the comments in a LinkedIn post spotted by iMore.

Herbert Diess responded to talk of an Apple Car in a LinkedIn post, where he was asked about Apple’s project Titan, citing an article regarding reports Apple will release an autonomous car in 2024 with breakthrough battery technology. Diess responded: “We are looking forward to new competitors who will certainly accelerate the transformation of our industry and bring in new skills. The incredible evaluation and thus the virtually unlimited access to resources inspire us a great deal of respect. A real challenge – dimensions greater than those within our industry (e.B. Toyota Motor Corporation ) As I have already said, the most valuable company in the world will once again be a mobility company – it Tesla can, Apple or may be Volkswagen AG called.” (Translated)

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Google Faces Major Antitrust Lawsuit From Texas

Charlotte Henry ·

Google is facing a major antitrust lawsuit from Texas and other states, Politico reported. If successful, the search giant could be hit with trillions of dollars worth of fines.

The lawsuit, which also includes eight other states, accuses Google of rigging online ad auctions to increase its own profits at the expense of website publishers, who have struggled to make the same kind of money from web ads as from television, print and radio. The states have asked the court to force the company to sell off pieces of its business to take away its power to control such auctions. But there are other allegations that could cut Google even more deeply. Texas also alleges that Google violated state laws that forbid unfair or deceptive business practices — laws that mandate steep fines for each violation. The attorneys general plan to argue that every online bid allegedly manipulated by Google violates state laws, which would lead to a massive pileup of fines.

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SolarWinds Hack Affected Tech Companies Like Intel, Cisco, VMware

Andrew Orr ·

The SolarWinds cyber attack didn’t just affect government agencies; big tech companies were affected too. Intel, Nvidia, Cisco, Belkin, and VMware were also infected. The Wall Street Journal reports. If the link below is paywalled, try this article from The Verge.

Intel downloaded and ran the malicious software, the Journal’s analysis found. The company is investigating the incident and has found no evidence the hackers used the backdoor to access the company’s network, a spokesman said.