“They give Apple a huge amount of discretion, impose potentially business-destroying costs and penalties on the repair shop, and require that they grant access to Apple without notice,” Walsh wrote in an email to Motherboard. Walsh added that Apple is “notorious” for interpreting its intellectual property rights very broadly, citing the time it sued Samsung over the rounded corners of several phone models as an example.
“If you sign this agreement,” Walsh continued, “then you repair non-Apple devices at your peril.”
Apple would very much like us to believe it has our best interest at heart. It’s just given us yet another indication that’s not the case, and it’s no closer to letting go of its repair monopoly than it has been—which is to say, not at all. Apple should be ashamed.
Apple's plan to drastically ramp up AirPods production is under threat from the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced suppliers in China to halt operations for two weeks and could leave them short of components even after work resumes on Monday, multiple sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.
[...]
Luxshare Precision Industry, also known as Luxshare-ICT, Goertek and Inventec, the three key manufacturers of the AirPods, have halted the majority of production since the Lunar New Year break began, two people familiar with the matter told Nikkei. The three companies now have at most two weeks' worth of materials and components needed for AirPods assembly, and must wait for component makers across China to restart operations in order to receive fresh supplies, the people said.
Apple Stores in China were closed on February 1st in response to the coronavirus, with the company stating that they would remain so through February 9. Store webpages say that they will re-open on Monday, but a memo to local staff from retail and people head Deidre O’Brien suggests this is now unlikely.
Many of the photos in the ad show a direct side-by-side comparison, showing how Night mode can help users take better pictures in low-light environments.
If you’ve ever found yourself showing other people pictures on your phone, you’ve probably also been trying to micromanage what they can and can’t see. And, if you’re a parent of a young kid, it’s likely that you’ve let your child look through a photo album on your device. In that case, you’ve certainly been worried about their ability to delete or accidentally modify an image.
There are ways to limit what a person — or child — can or can’t get to on your device through the Guided Access settings in iOS. But nothing is as simple as using a new iOS app called Peek-a-View to lock down your photos.
According to Apple, developers can identify organizations via App Store Connect, and give those organizations the ability to purchase the customized app via Apple School Manager in volume. Apple also notes that educational institutions can tap into this feature for distributing proprietary apps used internally.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF), which is part of the country's economy ministry, concluded that Apple had failed to inform users that iOS updates to older iPhones could slow down their devices.
In a disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple detailed efforts to responsibly source so-called conflict minerals — tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold (3TG, collectively) and other minerals — used in the production of iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod touch, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Apple Card, Beats products and all Apple accessories.
When was the last time Apple gave a product a good name? My vote is Safari.
(I'm thinking of Apple product names because I get angry every time I launch the Find My app.)
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Thanks for reading.