Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/10/monday-morning-news031016/
A story from Eater tells us about how the founder of Shack Shack has partnered with Union Square Hospitality Group and a reservation startup Resy in order to make the Apple Watch relevant to the hospitality industry. Danny Meyer’s plan is to have the Apple Watch be the communication method du jour for floor managers and sommeliers, who will get notifications every time a VIP walks through the front door, a menu item runs out, or a guest waits too long to order.
Zerodium will now pay finders of zero-day iOS vulnerabilities US$1.5 million. It’s triple their previous amount for iOS zero-day vulnerabilities and six times what Apple themselves offer, making bug bounties serious business indeed, even though you’ll need to put in a little more work to get paid the seven figure sum than what you’d have to do to get a payout from Apple.
Apple has been ordered to pay VirnetX $302.4 million in a patent lawsuit. In the third trial between the two companies, a judge has found Apple’s FaceTime technology infringed on patents held by VirnetX relating to securing communications. Apple’s current plan is to appeal, and they will do so by taking their case to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC, where the patents will be put under further scrutiny.
Apple is planning to build a new research centre in Beijing in order to develop new hardware. The $45 million facility will employ 500 people and develop computer hardware, communications, A/V equipment, and more. It’s all part of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s plan for China, which he originally outlined in August.
No one’s saying that the iPhone 7 Plus does a real depth of field with its upcoming “portrait mode”. But in terms of computational photography, the depth of field effect generated by the dual cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus is legit, and the technical explanation of Apple’s portrait mode says they’re doing all the right things. Not to mention, Apple does all of the technical stuff in real time when you’re framing the shot. It’s nothing short of impressive.
After catching a bit of press towards the tail end of last week, Adam Howell’s Phoneys sticker pack also caught the attention of Apple. In a blog post, Howell says that he’s since been contacted by Apple who has given him a week to change how the app works. It was good while it lasted, I guess.
Omni Group are moving their apps to a freemium model, where the initial download will be free and come with a two-week free trial of all the Pro-level features. After that, upgrading will come at a cost of an in-app purchase. The idea is that this will provide the best possible App Store experience.
Rumour has it Sharp is currently in talks with Apple ahead of the upcoming switch to OLED displays in the iPhone. Supply is the number one thing holding Apple back from selling as many devices as it can, and with OLED, the situation isn’t looking too bright, so Apple is getting in early.
A French Apple Store was the victim of one guy smashing dozens of devices. Apparently the guy was unhappy that Apple was violating his consumer rights, and took his rage out on a few iPhones and other devices.
People seem to be fascinated by the ability to charge and use wired headphones simultaneously, so here’s a Kickstarter that provides a cheap adapter so you can do just that. So long as you don’t have a fear of dongles, that is.