Originally published at: https://appletalk.com.au/2019/02/friday-morning-news/
Variety reports that there’s a good chance we’ll see some clips from Apple’s original programming at their as-yet-unconfirmed March event, even though the launch of Apple’s streaming video service is still months away. While we’re likely to get news about Apple’s news subscription service at next month’s event, Apple is expected to ask its partners for some kind of marketing campaign before the launch of its streaming video service, which is itself expected to have content from Apple’s original programming efforts, as well as content from its launch partners.
Speaking of Apple’s news subscription service, it seems almost strange that publishers would accept Apple’s rumoured terms of a 50/50 revenue split. But as explained by Recode, that split may make some sense for smaller publishers and non-newspaper media, who argue that having a smaller portion of a large audience is better than having a larger portion of a small audience, with any difference being made up by numbers. And as a consumer, I already have too many subscriptions, so the fewer overall subscriptions I have, the better.
It turns out abuse of Apple’s Enterprise Developer Certificate Program goes deeper than we originally thought, with Reuters reporting hacked versions of popular apps being distributed using Enterprise Developer certs. Not only do hacked version of apps like ad-free Spotify, Angry Birds, Pokémon Go, Minecraft, and more pose threats to iOS security, those enterprise certificates are possibly doing something nefarious with your data.
And while Apple is telling developers that all developer accounts will require two-factor authentication to be enabled (if it isn’t already) by the end of February, it likely won’t prevent the kind of rampant abuse we’re seeing from individuals and organisations that have attained enterprise developer certs.
Apple will resume sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 in Germany, following a sales ban of the two devices for infringing on Qualcomm patents. As with all patent law, there’s some complication that seems to suggest that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 were found to infringe on a Qualcomm patent, but only on a chip that was only found in devices with Intel modems. Thus, Qualcomm-equipped iPhones weren’t infringing, which is why they’re going back on sale.
Speaking of lawsuits, Apple has been sued for allegedly infringing on patents originally developed by RIM for USB charging and communication. It’s unclear from the patent language and legalese, but if the patents really as a generic as AppleInsider makes them sound, it’s a wonder why other smartphone manufacturers haven’t been sued for the same thing, unless Apple is really unique in their way that they implement USB charging?
The organisation committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has decided to make the medals out of recycled electronics. Millions of discarded phones in amongst 47,488 tonnes of e-waste have resulted in 2,7000 KG of bronze, while the gold and silver targets of 30.3 KG and 4,100 KG were well on the way to being met, with no extra devices required. How’s that for taking iPhone recycling to the next level?
A Kickstarter for ThunderMag promises a lot. Not only does the small adapter restore a magnetic connection to your favourite USB-C plug and cable, but it will also handle Thunderbolt 3 connections at their native 40 Gbps and is capable of handling 100W of power, something very few other adapters do. Delivery is estimated in April 2019, and you can back your own for US $49 or more.
MacStories covers a big update to third-party reminders client Memento. The 3.0 update now has an Apple Watch app, with complications to let you know about what’s coming up next. Keyboard shortcuts on the iOS side of the fence a few other user interface niceties round out the update.
The Guardian talks about how AirPods went from being mocked as a terrible, no-good idea to a status symbol. While there’s still something very amusing about seeing someone with tiny wireless earbuds, actually using AirPods is something else entirely, which is probably why you see them more and more often these days.
