Innehållsförteckning för #344 från AppleMagazine

Formerly known as Passbook, Wallet is Apple’s answer to digitizing cards. With it, the credit cards, debit cards, transport tickets and even loyalty cards that are weighing your wallet or purse down can all be turned into virtual versions of themselves so that you can easily access them anytime, anywhere. Plus, with the addition of Apple Pay, you can easily pay for your next coffee without having to find the correct change. With this year’s WWDC drawing closer , rumors are now beginning to circulate about what Apple might have in store not only for iOS 12 but for the way that it allows users to interact with their digital wallet in the very near future. FROM PASSBOOK TO WALLET When you’re in a hurry, it can be frustrating to…

State Police Sgt. Greg Cunningham wants you to know that starting Friday, you’re going to get a ticket if a trooper spots you holding your phone while driving. The state passed a hands-free-driving law last year that takes effect June 1, and state officials and law enforcement have been working to make sure Rhode Island drivers are aware of the new rules. Drivers will no longer be able to hold their cellphone to their ear, or in front of their face, or really at all. “Leave the phone alone,” Cunningham said. “It’s that simple.” Those behind the wheel can still talk on the phone with Bluetooth or other hands-free technology, but they’re allowed to use their hands only to activate or end a call. If caught, drivers will face a…

New technology is easing the way we garden, store equipment, monitor watering and reshape landscapes. And some of those tasks can be done remotely, using phones or tablets. The innovations extend well beyond downloading a few apps. New to the horticultural mix are 3-D modeling, GPS mapping, laser technology, drones, robotics, devices that can read the weather and moisture in the soil for precision planting and irrigation, and battery-powered and low-or no-emission equipment. “We are seeing an uptick in landscape professionals using advanced technology to plan designs for clients,” said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Association of Landscape Professionals. “Today, professionals are using drones to survey homeowner properties to get a birds-eye view before and during the design-creation phase,” she said. “Drones can also help…

Asia Thomas knew she was at a disadvantage. It had been 16 years since she quit a job at McDonald’s to raise her kids. When she left, restaurants didn’t have kiosks to take orders, people didn’t use smartphones to pay, and job seekers did applications on paper. “Things have changed,” said Thomas, who lives in Baltimore. “And there were a lot of things I forgot.” Getting a job at a store or fast-food restaurant — often a way into the economy for an unskilled worker — used to be as simple as walking up and down the mall and applying. Now, with store chains closing and laying off thousands of workers, that path is more complicated. The stores that remain financially healthy are actually raising wages in a tight labor…

Solo: A Star Wars Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) John Williams & John Powell This is the soundtrack to Solo: A Star Wars Story, a film which follows the young pilot Han Solo before the events of the classic first Star Wars movie released in 1977. Naturally, John Williams is once again at the helm for this score, having composed cinematic music for Star Wars from the start. FIVE FACTS: 1. Solo: A Star Wars Story is the second Star Wars anthology film after 2016’s Rogue One. 2. In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Han Solo is played by Alden Ehrenreich, who has said that, compared to Harrison Ford’s Solo, his version of the character “is more of an idealist”. 3. John Williams has been responsible for some of cinema’s…

An Indianapolis institute devoted to quickly moving research from university laboratories to the marketplace has won a $33 million federal grant. Money from the National Institutes of Health will allow the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute to continue its research into ways of improving human health and reducing disease. The institute, founded in 2008, enlists researchers and staff from Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame. It recently launched an “All IN for Health” initiative that aims to sign up at least 100,000 Indiana residents as volunteers for its health research registry. Program director Tiffany Campbell says the institute needs to more fully understand the health of Indiana’s diverse populations “to come up with more successful solutions that will last.”…

President Donald Trump’s hard-line views on trade, a staple of his message long before he entered politics, are beginning to collide with the cold realities of global geopolitics. Trade talks on China and the North American Free Trade Agreement have hit stumbling blocks, posing a challenge for a president who vowed to make trade deals more equitable for the United States during his 2016 campaign and who famously tweeted that trade wars are “easy to win.” Trump’s trade agenda — at least lately — has not been so easy. Trump’s administration announced plans Tuesday to slap $50 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese technology while taking steps to impose new investment restrictions and export controls, aimed at pushing China to remove trade barriers that make it difficult for U.S. companies…

SOCIAL MEDIA KINGS INTO QUEENS RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, SEASON 10 (UNCENSORED) UMM, HELLO JERSEY SHORE: FAMILY VACATION, SEASON 1 WHAT DA FUSKIE SOUTHERN CHARM, SEASON 5 A FRITTERED FRIENDSHIP THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, SEASON 10 NOW IT BEGINS... THE LOOMING TOWER, SEASON 1 SPY GAMES QUANTICO, SEASON 3 UNTUCKED: RUPAUL’S DRAG RACESOCIAL MEDIA KINGS INTO QUEENS UNTUCKED: RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, SEASON 10 INTO THE WILDERNESS THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA: FRONTIERSMEN IT IS GAME TIME KIDS SURVIVOR, SEASON 36: GHOST ISLAND SHIFTING SANDS THE 100, SEASON 5…

The Trump administration issued a fresh warning Tuesday about malicious North Korean cyber activity, as that nation’s leader dispatched a top adviser to New York to prepare for a possible summit on its nuclear arsenal. The technical alert from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security highlighted two pieces of malware said to have been used to target U.S. infrastructure and aerospace, financial and media companies for at least nine years to steal information and remotely manipulate networks. In recent years, the United States has accused North Korea of launching a slew of cyberattacks, and it wasn’t immediately clear if there was any significance to the timing of the latest warning, which came as President Donald Trump is eying nuclear talks with leader Kim Jong Un. In preparation for…

An “unlikely” string of events prompted Amazon’s Echo personal assistant device to record a Portland, Oregon, family’s private conversation and then send the recording to an acquaintance in Seattle, the company said last week. The woman told KIRO-TV that two weeks ago an employee of her husband contacted them to say he thought their device had been hacked. He told them he had received an audio file of them discussing hardwood floors, she said. In a statement, Amazon confirmed the woman’s private conversation had been inadvertently recorded and sent. The company said the device interpreted a word in the background conversation as “Alexa” — a command that makes it wake up — and then it interpreted the conversation as a “send message” request. “At which point, Alexa said out loud…

THE FUTURE OF MOBILE GAMING Mobile gaming is big business. Smartphone gaming apps account for $50 billion of the $115 billion gaming market, with 80% of all AppStore revenue coming from gaming releases alone. It all started back in 1997 when Nokia shipped the Snake game with its mobile phones, and ever since, consumers have been looking for new ways to relax and unwind with a new gaming distraction. For Apple, gaming is one of the biggest selling points for its iPhone and iPod Touch ranges, with the Cupertino firm regularly developing more advanced hardware designed to take gaming to the next level. But despite super-powerful A11 chips and new developments in augmented reality, PC gaming is still king, with new titles such as Far Cry 5, Monster Hunter: World…

Apple ignited the smartphone revolution with iPhone and it is a fact that Samsung blatantly copied our design. A jury has decided Samsung must pay Apple $539 million in damages for illegally copying some of the iPhone’s features to lure people into buying its competing products. The verdict reached last week is the latest twist in a legal battle that began in 2011. Apple contends Samsung wouldn’t have emerged as the world’s leading seller of smartphones if it hadn’t ripped off the technology powering the pioneering iPhone in developing a line of similar devices running on Google’s Android software. Previous rulings had already determined that Samsung infringed on some of Apple’s patents, but the amount of damages owed has been hanging in legal limbo. Another jury convened for a 2012…

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” easily topped the Memorial Day weekend box office charts with $103 million from its first four days in theaters, but the pricey and troubled production launch failed to meet the high expectations of industry analysts and the precedent set by the three most recent “Star Wars” films. “Solo” effectively kicked “Deadpool 2” to second place in its second weekend in theaters, with $53.8 million, while “Avengers: Infinity War” landed in third place in its fifth weekend with $22.4 million. “Book Club” took fourth place with $13.1 million, and the Melissa McCarthy comedy “Life of the Party” came in fifth with $6.9 million. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts…

The Boeing Co. says it will give $1.5 million to support science, technology, engineering and math programs at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Among other things, the money will expand the museum’s annual robotics challenge from a one-state event to a regional tournament, so students from Mississippi, Alabama and Texas can also compete, the museum said in a news release last week. Finals will be at the museum. The first four competitions were all at the museum. Teams from Mississippi and Alabama occasionally competed, but nearly all were from Louisiana, museum spokesman Keith Darcey said. The competition for students in grades three through eight uses themes from World War II — often tying in with an exhibit — to set up tasks in which teams can…

An American business group called on Beijing on Wednesday to allow the same access to its state-dominated economy that China’s companies have to U.S. markets after Washington revved up a simmering trade dispute with a surprise announcement of plans to go ahead with a tariff hike. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said this country can no longer justify the protections it was granted as a developing country when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The group said regulators should ease or scrap restrictions on foreign investment and activity in fields including aerospace, finance, retailing and technology. The United States, Europe and other trading partners are increasingly pressing for such reciprocal access as Chinese companies expand abroad while Beijing limits access to large swathes of its domestic…

France’s Interior Ministry announced plans on Tuesday to beef up its emergency alert system to the public across social media. The ministry said in a statement that from June during immediate threats of danger, such as a terror attack, the ministry’s alerts will be given priority broadcast on Twitter, Facebook and Google as well as on French public transport and television. The statement said that Twitter will give “special visibility” to the ministry’s alerts with a banner. In a specific agreement, Facebook will also allow the French government to communicate to people directly via the social network’s “safety check” tool, created in 2014. The ministry said that this is the first time in Europe that Facebook has allowed public authorities to use this tool in this way. This announcement comes…

Revelations that an Amazon Echo smart speaker inadvertently sent a family’s private conversation to an acquaintance highlights some unexpected risks of new voice-enabled technologies. According to Amazon, the fault was an “unlikely” series of inadvertent vocal cues that triggered the speaker, caused it to begin recording and then led it to interpret subsequent conversation as a “send message” request. There’s no way to eliminate these sorts of privacy risks short of unplugging entirely. But you can minimize the odds of unpleasant privacy surprises with these tips: — KILL THE MIC: Most smart speakers have a physical button to disable the microphone, so a private conversation can’t be recorded to begin with. You can hit that when you’re having sensitive conversations. The button on the Echo will turn red; other devices…

Kansas transportation officials are beginning a pilot project to determine how drones could be used in future road design work. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that last week marked the first time the Kansas Department of Transportation has employed drone technology in conjunction with a road project. The department has contracted the Kirkham Michael engineering firm to operate the fixed-wing drone back and forth above part of the US-75 highway in northern Jackson County. The device is equipped with a still camera that takes hundreds of images of the terrain below. The Transportation Department is looking at making US-75 safer between Holton in Jackson County and Fairview in Brown County. The department and the engineering firm are collaborating on the project and will survey and design a passing lane and 2-mile…

BNSF Railway is one of the first railroads to fully implement new safety technology that will be required by federal regulators by the end of the year, a company spokeswoman said. The new technology, known as positive train control, is designed to automatically slow or stop a train to prevent accidents such as a collision with another train or a derailment caused by excessive speed. BNSF has spent more than a decade developing and deploying PTC technology at a cost of more than $2.2 billion, according to spokeswoman Amy McBeth. She told KSTP-TV the company is one of the first to fully implement the technology across all locomotives and mandated routes. All railroad companies must have it in place by the end of 2018 to meet a federal mandate. “I…

Star Wars: The Last Jedi As the First Order bears down on the remnants of an increasingly beleaguered Resistance fleet, Rey (Daisy Ridley) tracks down Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who is in self-imposed exile on the planet Ahch-To. He agrees to train Rey, who keeps receiving confusing visions from an old adversary... FIVE FACTS: 1. With this film, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran became actors of the Star Wars universe for the first time. 2. Carrie Fisher reprised her best-known role as Leia Organa in The Last Jedi but died in December 2016, about a year before the film was theatrically released. 3. Rian Johnson is credited as responsible for all of the directorial and writing duties for this film. 4. Audiences have received The Last…

The reaches of the galaxy far, far away might not be quite as vast as previously thought. In a box-office blip that echoed through the multiplexes, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” didn’t fare well over the Memorial Day weekend, amassing an estimated $103 million in ticket sales from Thursday night to Monday. Most movies dream of such openings, but the standard for “Star Wars” is different, as is the bottom line. “Solo,” which switched directors mid-production, cost more than $250 million to make, and it was expected to debut with around $150 million. For the first time, the “Star Wars” juggernaut was humbled at the box office. The opening marked the worst debut in the franchise’s history and Disney’s stock slid 2.5 percent in trading Tuesday. No one yet needs…

President Donald Trump is asking the government to make it easier for private companies to get to and from space. Trump signed the space policy directive last week. He was joined at the White House by Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the National Space Council. During a meeting at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in February, Pence and other council members recommended the government ease restrictions on private U.S. companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin. The reforms are meant to get businesses moving faster and farther into space. White House officials say little change is expected until next year, after the new regulations are written and reviewed. “There are many innovative companies across this nation working hard to build a bright future in space, and our policies should help ensure…

Exxon’s CEO says the company can more than double its earnings by 2025 and will invest in new oil and gas production even if policymakers adopt rules to combat climate change. Darren Woods told shareholders Wednesday that technology like biofuels will allow the company to produce energy with lower carbon emissions. Environmentalists say Woods is offering political spin instead of solutions. The oil giant’s annual meeting in a symphony hall was a tame affair, lacking the usual number of protesters. For the first time in years, there were no environmental resolutions from activist shareholders and no fiery speeches during the open-comment period. Woods, like his predecessor and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said the world will need oil and gas for decades. Exxon, Woods said, is responding to that…

A young computer hacker who investigators say unwittingly worked for Russian spies was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for his role in a massive security breach at Yahoo that federal agents say was directed by a Russian intelligence agency. U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria also fined Karim Baratov $250,000 during a sentencing hearing in San Francisco. Baratov, 23, pleaded guilty in November to nine felony hacking charges. He acknowledged in his plea agreement that he began hacking as a teen seven years ago and charged customers $100 per hack to access web-based emails. Prosecutors allege he was “an international hacker for hire” who indiscriminately hacked for clients he did not know or vet, including dozens of jobs paid for by Russia’s Federal Security Service. Baratov, who was born in…