Apple Event on the 14th; TikTok Passes YouTube in Viewing Time; Facebook Denies Report That WhatsApp NOT End-to-End Encrypted; Government Pressure Could Make Companies Support Smartphones Longer
Posted: September 7, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
The invite dropped this morning, as expected. Apple has announced ‘California Streaming,’ their upcoming digital event. It will be September 14th at 10 AM Pacific, emanating from Apple Park in Cupertino. According to Macrumors.com, once again there will be no members of the media on hand in person in the Steve Jobs Theater. Apple is widely expected to show off the iPhone 13 series, the Apple Watch Series 7, and maybe AirPods 3. Expected new MacBook Pros with the M series chips and new iPads will probably be revealed in another event….likely in October.
TikTok continues to show more strength. Theverge.com reports that a new study from analytics firm App Annie shows that TikTok users spend more time watching content every month that YouTube users. As of June, that’s 24 hours of content a month, compared to YouTube’s 22 hours and 40 minutes in the US. In the UK, TikTok’ers watch 26 hours a month, compared to 16 hours for YouTube users. Worth noting: these figures only include viewership on Android phones, so YouTube could be in better shape if you were to add in iOS users. YouTube continues to be ahead in overall time spent since they have more than 2 billion users, compared to 700 million for TikTok.
A report out from ProPublica claims that WhatsApp does not have end-to-end encryption. Apparently, this is based on the fact that there are over 1,000 contract workers in Austin, TX, Dublin, and Singapore that examine ‘millions of pieces of users’ content.’ Facebook claims that only messages which are reported by WhatsApp users are forwarded to Facebook’s contract moderation team. The report also alleges that WhatsApp regularly shares unencrypted records with the US Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies. The best advice is still to consider ANYTHING you post on the internet as being public, and that nothing is un-hackable.
The German government has now started looking at making smartphone manufacturers offer security updates and spare parts for 7 years. Right now, the EU requires this for 5 years, according to zdnet.com. iPhone’s Apple and Android makers are, of course, howling about this. The Germans also want the parts to be offered at ‘a reasonable price,’ and would make the producers publish a price list and make the parts available quickly. It should be noted that this is actually a completely reasonable demand. The US has made auto makers keep parts available for 10 years for decades now. As for the reasonable price part, with most car parts, there are enough aftermarket parts makers to keep those prices down. For the phone makers’ part….they feel that keeping batteries and screens available is enough, as those are the most failure prone items in the smartphones.
Yet More on iPhone Sat Connection; Google’s ‘Human Presence Sensor’; VW EV Microbus Update; Hamill Tweets Name, Gets Massive Likes
Posted: September 6, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentLast week, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple would support low orbit satellite communications with iPhone 13, then, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman gave more details about the feature and its implementation. 9to5 mac.com notes that More info has leaked out now. “The emergency features will only work in areas without any cellular coverage and only in select markets. Apple envisions eventually deploying its own array of satellites to beam data to devices, but that plan is likely years away from taking off.” Gurman also says Apple won’t give the ability for iPhone users to make calls when without cellular coverage.
Google is working with Antmicro on a “Human Presence Sensor” for upcoming Chromebooks, which could be used for face unlock or other long-awaited Chrome OS features. Google calls the project “HPS,” which is short for “Human Presence Sensor.” According to 9to5google.com, it may be used to let the laptop wake when you approach…or could allow your Chromebook to both stay awake and not dim the screen while you’re in front of it, similar to the “Screen attention” feature of Pixel phones. No word on when it may be actually implemented at this point.
Five years after Volkswagen first unveiled its concept for an electric version of its iconic microbus, we’re finally getting our first glimpse of the vehicle on the road. But rather than some throwback to an era of hippies and flower power, the ID Buzz is outfitted with a high-tech suite of sensors and computing smarts for its new role as an autonomous test vehicle. Theverge.com report that the autonomous ID Buzz will serve as a platform for the automaker’s full-scale commercial ride-hailing and delivery operation that it plans on launching in Germany in 2025. For now, VW plans to deploy the ID Buzz on public roads for testing in Munich, as well as at a private track near the city’s airport.
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill decided to test how strong the Force was with his Twitter stardom Sunday after a fan suggested he could get thousands of likes just by tweeting his own name. CNET.com says the actor, who’s best known for playing Luke Skywalker, exceeded expectations by getting more than half a million likes and over 30,000 retweets as of early Monday. Don’t try thi at home, kids….Hamill has 4.7 million followers on the social media platform, and a bunch of them are apparently happy to support his experiments. If you have only a few hundred or few thousand followers, you will probably just get razzed for trying the same thing.
Microsoft Surface Event Sept. 22; Apple Plans More Watch Health Features; Twitter Bows ‘Safety Mode’; Facebook Reduced Political Content in Feeds
Posted: September 1, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 CommentMicrosoft has announced a Surface hardware event for September 22nd. Theverge.com reports that the media invite says “the company will talk about devices and Windows 11.” The expected devices will probably be a successor to the Surface Duo and a new Surface laptop. Images of a new Duo 2 leaked out earlier this summer. Expected changes are a triple cam system with telephoto, ultra wide, and standard lenses. The replacement for the Surface Book 3 will likely be dubbed the Surface Laptop Pro, not the Book 4.
We reported earlier this year that Apple was still working on a blood sugar monitor in the Watch. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, they are also testing monitoring blood pressure trends, a thermometer for fertility and sleep tracking, and sleep apnea detection. Most of these features are not expected in this month’s new Watch, but may be in the 2022 model. Interestingly, the blood pressure monitor works differently from the cuffs we are all used to. Apple’s method measures the speed of the wave of a heartbeat via a user’s artery using sensors. The blood glucose monitor, which could be life saving for diabetics, has been in development for quite a while, and apparently is still giving Apple trouble as they work to perfect reliable tech for a Watch based feature.
Twitter has started testing out a new ’Safety Mode,’ which will automatically block unwanted replies. Macrumors.com says the feature should cut down on spammy or abusive replies to posts. The feature will auto block accounts that uses insults, or send repetitive, uninvited replies or mentions. If turned on, Safety Mode stays active for about 7 days. Accounts that you follow will NOT be auto blocked.
Facebook has rejiggered their algorithms once again, and has started reducing political content in your News Feed. Engadget.com reports that this comes on the heels of tests in the US, Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia. The social net claims this is all in response to the FB community. Facebook does admit that some engagement signals are better for them than others in predicting if posts seem interesting or valuable to users. Hopefully, the changes will help reduce the level of misinformation on the platform. Facebook also thinks it may make their network a more welcoming place…as some people get turned off pretty quickly by political arguments. The change is the usual rolling one, so you may not have seen it yet.
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