Indholdsfortegnelse for #412 i AppleMagazine

WHY IT MAY FINALLY BE STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A ‘LAPTOP ALTERNATIVE’ While the announcement of a new-generation iPad was one of the less expected developments of Apple’s recent big keynote at Steve Jobs Theater, it would be a mistake to imagine that the long-running tablet line isn’t a significant focus for the Cupertino firm these days. Indeed, you could argue the opposite – that the venerable device is actually now primed for a new lease of life, thanks to a combination of hardware, software and cultural developments. WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? Well, you might have noticed that iPads soon won’t even continue running on iOS – the operating system they have long shared with the iPhone – for much longer. Instead, the tablet is getting its…

Apple this week deepened its ties with a Kentucky manufacturing plant by awarding $250 million to support Corning Inc.’s continued work to develop glass for iPhones and other devices. The award builds on the $200 million that Corning received from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund in 2017, the tech giant said. The combined investments support Corning’s research and development that will be crucial for next-generation consumer devices, Apple said. Scratch-resistant glass for every generation of iPhone has been made at Corning’s plant in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Corning also supplies glass for iPads and Apple Watches. “Apple and Corning’s rich history dates back more than a decade and our partnership revolutionized glass and transformed the technology industry with the first iPhone,” Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, said in a release. “This award…

Long before President Donald Trump threatened to cut off Huawei’s access to U.S. technology, the Chinese telecom equipment maker was pouring money into research that reduces its need for American suppliers. Huawei’s founder says instead of crippling the company, the export curbs are making it a tougher competitor by forcing managers to focus resources on their most important products. Little-known to Americans, Huawei Technologies Ltd. is the No. 2 smartphone brand worldwide and the biggest maker of switching gear at the heart of phone networks. Its equipment is used by 45 of the 50 biggest global phone carriers. Huawei is a pioneer in the emerging field of next-generation, or 5G, telecoms. It promises not just faster internet but support for self-driving cars and other futuristic applications. That fuels Western security…

Smartphone apps have transformed the way we read the news, hail rides and connect with friends and family. Pear Therapeutics aims to leverage that technology to enhance treatment for patients battling addiction with alcohol, opioids and other drugs. The company’s first program, reSET, won approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2017. Study results showed that patients working with the program were more than twice as likely to abstain from alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and stimulants, compared with those who didn’t. A year later, the company’s reSET-O program was approved specifically for patients being treated for opioid addiction. Pear CEO Corey McCann spoke about the company’s technology. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Q: Pear sells the first software programs that require a doctor’s prescription. What happens…

Amazon announced this week it will film its upcoming television series “The Lord of the Rings” in New Zealand, marking a return of the orcs, elves and hobbits to the country they became synonymous with over the course of six movies directed by Peter Jackson. Amazon Studios said it had found a great location with world-class sets and skilled staff. It said pre-production had already started and production on the series would begin in the city of Auckland over the coming months. “As we searched for the location in which we could bring to life the primordial beauty of the Second Age of Middle-earth, we knew we needed to find somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains,” showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay wrote in a…

Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger has stepped down from Apple’s board of directors as the two companies prepare to launch competing video streaming services aimed at market leader Netflix. Apple disclosed Iger’s departure in a regulatory filing last Friday, but his resignation became effective Tuesday. That’s the same day that Apple announced its long-awaited video streaming service will debut Nov. 1 and cost only $5 per month, less than half the price of Netflix’s most popular plan. Disney is gearing up to launch a video streaming service for $7 per month later in November. The dueling services raised potential conflicts of interest that apparently prompted Iger to step down after spending nearly eight years on Apple’s board. Apple praised Iger as an “exemplary” board member and one of its…

The solar system may have another foreign guest. Both NASA and the European Space Agency are reporting that a newly discovered comet zooming toward the sun is likely from another star. Astronomers said it’s traveling 93,000 mph (150,000 kph), so fast it likely originated outside our solar system. It’s 260 million miles (420 million kilometers) from the sun and getting closer. It’s expected to completely sidestep Earth, remaining beyond Mars’ orbit. Scientists predict the comet will hurtle past the sun in December and keep going until it’s back in interstellar space. It should be visible with professional telescopes well into next year. Its nucleus is estimated between 1.2 miles and 10 miles across (2 kilometers and 16 kilometers). Officially known as C/2019 Q4, the comet was discovered two weeks ago…

For many small business owners, Google is a necessary and successful way to advertise although it can also be expensive and frustrating. Jeff Moriarty sees both sides. Moriarty, marketing director for his family’s jewelry business, has handled its online ads for 20 years. With competition for the limited number of high-visibility ads intense, advertising costs are rising because “we all have to play their (Google’s) game,” he says. But Moriarty has learned how to get results for Moriarty Gem Art, which has an online store and a physical location in Crown Point, Indiana. Along with buying ads, he uses the strategy known as search engine optimization to boost the company’s visibility. “The good thing is our website does rank well in searches,” he says. “It offsets some of the costs…

With Apple lifting the lid on the new Apple Watch Series 5 at last week’s September Event, featuring an always-on display, built-in compass, and new titanium casing options, we delve deeper into the world’s most advanced smartwatch and explore its impressive functionality… WATCH OUT As predicted, Apple used its September Event to show off a bunch of updated consumer hardware, including new iPads, the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and of course, a brand new Apple Watch range. The fifth iteration of the smartwatch may, on the outside, appear very similar to the Series 4, released in 2018, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, with Apple working to elevate the smartwatch experience through software and hardware for the year ahead. Still sporting the thinner, smaller bodywork of the…

Facebook will work with law enforcement organizations to train its artificial intelligence systems to recognize videos of violent events as part of a broader effort to crack down on extremism. Facebook’s AI systems were unable to detect live-streamed video of a mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. The effort will use body-cam footage of firearms training provided by U.S. and U.K. government and law enforcement agencies. The aim is to develop systems that can automatically detect first-person violent events without also flagging similar footage from movies or video games. It’s also expanding its definition of terrorism to include not just acts of violence attended to achieve a political or ideological aim, but also attempts at violence, especially when aimed at civilians with the intent to coerce and…

Anna In a story set in the late-1980s Soviet Union, Anna Poliatova (Sasha Luss), a beautiful young Russian woman with a difficult past, is only just persuaded into becoming an assassin for the KGB – a life from which it soon transpires she will not find an easy escape. Nonetheless, she proceeds to develop into a formidable state-sponsored killer. FIVE FACTS: 1. This film has many noted similarities to 1990’s La Femme Nikita, one of French director Luc Besson’s early theatrical successes. 2. Unfortunately, Anna has also been likened to last year’s poorly received action-thriller film Red Sparrow, which starred Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian ballerina turned assassin and spy. 3. In a negative review of Anna, Variety’s Peter Debruge ridiculed Besson for spending the last 20 years “telling roughly…

Move aside, “Friends” and “The Office.” Netflix now has a new gem — a show about nothing. The company announced this week it would start streaming all 180 episodes of “Seinfeld” in 2021, gaining a hugely popular addition to its library as the battle for viewers heats up. Netflix Inc., which pioneered the binge-watching culture of streaming, was dealt a double blow this summer when it lost “The Office” and “Friends,” two of its most popular shows, as their respective owners pulled them to add to their own streaming services. “The Office” will leave at the end of 2020 to join NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, and “Friends” will leave at the beginning of 2020 to join the upcoming HBO Max service. It’s a battle not likely to wane as the…

A new venture backed by many of video gaming’s biggest publishers is unveiling a network that hopes to be to esports what ESPN has been to traditional sports. VENN is set to launch in 2020 and aims to give the fragmented esports scene a home base for content with higher production value than gamers are used to with online streaming. The network was co-founded by four-time Emmy-winning producer Ariel Horn and entrepreneur Ben Kusin and has raised $17 million from investors including co-founders from Twitch, Riot Games and Blizzard Entertainment. VENN, short for Video Game Entertainment and News Network, will debut with live studios in New York and Los Angeles. There is expected to be 55 hours of original programming per week, including gamer streams, talk shows, documentaries and live…

U.S. airlines are increasing their emissions of climate-changing gases much faster than they are boosting fuel efficiency, according to an environmental group’s report. The International Council on Clean Transportation said that carbon dioxide emissions and fuel burning rose 7% from 2016 to 2018, overshadowing a 3% gain in fuel efficiency. The report’s authors say airlines could reduce emissions and fuel consumption more than 25% by buying newer planes and filling them with more passengers. The report ranked Frontier the most efficient among the 11 largest U.S. airlines. The Denver-based carrier has added more than 40 Airbus jets with more efficient engines. New York-based JetBlue ranked last. JetBlue spokeswoman Tamara Young said the airline’s score dropped because researchers considered seating density — JetBlue has fewer rows in coach — and it…

Facebook is slashing the price and the size of the Portal, its screen and camera-equipped gadget for making video calls with friends and family as it attempts to get the device into more homes. A smaller version will now cost $129 and will come with an 8 inch display. A larger version with a 10 inch display will cost $179. A new screenless Portal device that attaches to a television set will be $149. Last year’s models were bigger and cost more — $199 for a 10.1 inch display and $349 for at 15.6 inch screen. Facebook isn’t saying how many Portals it’s sold since it launched the first models last fall. It remains unclear how many people want a Facebook-branded smart camera in their homes, given the company’s history…

As more electric vehicles hit the streets, additional places to charge them are popping up in Las Vegas. Casino companies, Clark County, shopping centers and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, now offer charging stations. Las Vegas city planners are exploring ways to make the city more electric-vehicle friendly as they put together a 2050 master plan, the Las Vegas Sun reports. “We’re moving toward electric,”Tom Volk, a businessman from Phoenix, said as he charged his Tesla Model 3 at the Railroad Pass Travel Center in Henderson. The car has a maximum range of 310 miles (498 kilometers), a little more than the 300-mile (483-kilometer) distance to Las Vegas, so Volk said he also stopped to charge the car in Arizona. But he said the decision to go with an…

Activists are using virtual reality technology to focus on areas of the Navajo Nation affected by uranium contamination. The arts collective Bombshelltoe has collected 360-degree footage of land near Churchrock, New Mexico, to show how people and the land have changed since a 1979 uranium mill spill, the Gallup Independent reports. The film, titled “Ways of Knowing,” was directed by artist Kayla Briet. The project started four years ago after Washington, D.C.-based nuclear policy program manager Lovely Umayam met Navajo activist Sunny Dooley at an event in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Filmmaker Adriel Luis is also a co-producer of the movie. “Sunny asked us during this meeting, ‘Where is your heart?’ And it caught my - along with everyone else’s - attention,” Umayam said. In 1979, a dam on the…

Charli Charli XCX British singer-songwriter Charli XCX is back with her third studio album – and while much of it is unsurprisingly electrifying in both senses of the word, the pop auteur otherwise known as Charlotte Aitchison is also allowing more of her reflective and introspective side to shine through. It’s her most personal studio album since her first, 2013’s True Romance. FIVE FACTS: 1. Charli XCX’s early hits before breaking through as a solo artist included 2013’s “I Love It”, a collaboration with Swedish electropop duo Icona Pop. 2. She was also responsible for the chorus and hook of rapper Iggy Azalea’s huge international hit “Fancy” in 2014. 3. Charli XCX hosts her own show on Apple’s Beats 1 radio station, The Candy Shop, on which she has discussed…

Comcast’s NBCUniversal said that its upcoming streaming service will be called Peacock, in an homage to NBC’s logo. It will become the home for some of the company’s most popular shows, including “Parks and Recreation” and “The Office.” That means both will be leaving Netflix, although not for several months after Peacock launches. As Disney, AT&T’s WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal prepare to debut their streaming services, they have been taking some of their TV and movie deals away from Netflix, the most popular streaming service. That augurs a future where consumers will have to hunt for their favorite shows and films among lots of different services. WarnerMedia for example also announced that HBO Max, its upcoming streaming service, will have the U.S. rights to “The Big Bang Theory.” Netflix said it’s…

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A growing number of countries are following China’s lead in deploying artificial intelligence to track citizens, according to a research group’s report published this week. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says at least 75 countries are actively using AI tools such as facial recognition for surveillance. The index of countries where some form of AI surveillance is used includes liberal democracies such as the United States and France as well as more autocratic regimes. Relying on a survey of public records and media reports, the report says Chinese tech companies led by Huawei and Hikvision are supplying much of the AI surveillance technology to countries around the world. Other companies such as Japan’s NEC and U.S.-based IBM, Palantir and Cisco are also major international providers of AI surveillance tools.…

Three North Korean hacking groups suspected of perpetrating cyberattacks around the world were placed on a U.S. sanctions list, drawing attention to the isolated nation’s illegal efforts to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The Treasury Department said the so-called Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel are controlled by the North Korean government. It said Lazarus Group was behind the devastating WannaCry ransomware, which froze 300,000 computers across 150 countries in 2017, and the destructive cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014. The U.S. government’s action makes it easier to seize any assets the hacking groups may have within the jurisdiction of American financial institutions, though they are likely to be limited if they exist at all. It may also have been intended to send a message and bring North…