Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2018/01/thursday-morning-news110118/
A story from the Guardian says advertising technology company Criteo has cut its 2018 revenue projections by over 20%, following the announcement and introduction of Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. This doesn’t seem like a particularly bad thing, and Criteo’s claim that Intelligent Tracking Prevention will “disrupt the valuable digital advertising ecosystem paying for online content” is just icing on the cake.
The saga of Apple being investigated for slowing down older iPhones continues. US Senator John Thune has now penned a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, questioning the transparency the company should have provided before deciding to affect performance on devices with chemically aged batteries. Apple’s lack of communication regarding this issue has been one of the primary criticisms, with many saying that Apple should have disclosed what it was doing prior to simply slowing down iPhones.
Apple has announced a date for transitioning Chinese iCloud customer data to a locally operated data centre facility, for compliance with local laws. The transition to GCBD’s data centre will happen beginning February 28, with the eventual plan being that the facility will store all Chinese customer iCloud data. Apple has reassured users that their information will be stored with the same level of encryption that it currently is, and no special backdoors will be created.
Jimmy Iovine has confirmed to Variety that he’s not leaving Apple, shooting down rumours the Apple Music executive would be leaving in August once his stocks fully vested. Iovine said in a statement that Apple Music goes from strength to strength with over 30 million paying subscribers, and with the good name of Beats continuing, Iovine says he’s committed to whatever Eddy Cue and Tim Cook need him to do.
Another security snafu on the Mac sees anyone being able to unlock the App Store System Preference pane with any password. The MacRumors article doesn’t appear to mention the need for a valid username, and trying on my system seems to suggest you can use any username, and any password. It’s worth noting that the App Store preference pane is unlocked by default for administrator accounts, but obviously unlocking without validating credentials is bad.
Apple’s European branch has agreed to pay US $184 million in taxes, following an extensive audit of Apple’s pre-2015 tax filings by the UK Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It’s claimed Apple Europe was not paid for services it offered to other Apple subsidiaries, leading to artificially lower revenue numbers and a lower tax amount.
The Verge praises the benefits of music streaming on the Apple Watch Series 3. Yeah, you need to be an Apple Music subscriber. And yes, you need to have a data plan on your Apple Watch, and yes, you would have needed to pair your Apple Watch to an iPhone at some point. But if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, being able to stream music wirelessly to your wrist-worn computer is pretty futuristic.
A secure messaging app has come up with a way to prevent the contents of messages being captured within screenshots. The technology also appears to prevent messages from being read from iOS 11 screen recordings and a number of other methods, and the company has provided a SDK for other developers to use the secure messaging feature within their own apps.
Australians still seem unhappy about the planned Apple Store in the Melbourne CBD. As reported by 9to5Mac, several websites and petitions have sprung up, with one petition having over 50,000 signatures arguing that the loss of the Yarra building in Federation Square will be the opposite of what Federation Square stands for.
Matias has revealed a wired USB version of Apple’s now-discontinued USB aluminium keyboard, adding RGB backlighting and making it available in a similar black colour scheme to the one that comes with the new iMac Pro. Matias’ wired USB keyboards look and feel exactly like Apple’s own versions, with the addition of some cool features like backlighting.
