Innehållsförteckning för #405 från AppleMagazine

TECHNOLOGY HAS PROFOUNDLY TRANSFORMED HOW WE DINE Just last week, we wrote about how what has been widely termed the ‘sharing economy’ – the distinctly Millennial movement of ‘sharing’ rather than necessarily ‘owning’ seemingly anything and everything, and drawing upon technology in the hand to make this possible – has made itself felt in how we travel, with Uber and Airbnb the obvious market leaders. What you might not have been so aware of, however, is how fundamentally our eating habits have also been impacted by similar dynamics. It emerged late last month, for instance, that even OpenTable, the world’s biggest online restaurant reservation service, with a more than two-decade history, was looking to move into the food delivery market. This might seem like a logical enough move, especially given…

U.S. antitrust regulators have cleared T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion takeover of rival Sprint, leaving just three major cellphone companies, while creating a smaller competitor in satellite-TV company Dish. While there are still a few hurdles to be cleared for the deal to close, here’s what a combined T-Mobile-Sprint company could mean for you and your cellphone bill: FOR MOST T-MOBILE AND SPRINT CUSTOMERS Sprint customers will be eventually transferred to the new T-Mobile, but that transition will take a few years. If you are a T-Mobile customer, you might not see many changes. However, because the goal of the takeover is to roll out a next-generation “5G” network, subscribers of both could ultimately see faster service. WHAT ABOUT PREPAID CUSTOMERS? As part of the deal, Dish will get Sprint’s prepaid business,…

A hacker accessed the personal information of 106 million Capital One credit card holders or credit card applicants in the U.S. and Canada, in the latest massive data breach at a large company. Capital One Financial Corp., one of the nation’s largest issuers of credit cards, said among the information obtained by the hacker was 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers. It said no credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were compromised. The breach is among the largest of a major U.S. financial institution on record. The bank said the bulk of the hacked data consisted of information supplied by consumers and small businesses who applied for credit cards between 2005 and early 2019. Consumers concerned that their information may have been hacked are advised to…

At my son’s fourth birthday party, a classmate presented him with a toy recycling truck. Atop it was a button that, when pushed, uncorked a familiar tune with the words: “To the dump, to the dump, to the dump dump dump!” An adult nearby heard the melody and said, “Hey — that’s the ‘Lone Ranger’ theme song.” Well, yes and no. It is indeed the fanfare to the famed 1950s TV series. But before that it was something even more venerable — the William Tell Overture, by a 19th-century Italian composer named Gioachino Rossini. So goes the story of modern music. A century of near-continuous recording, packaging, repackaging, riffing and — more recently — the technical ability for anyone to create cultural collage and sample all facets of creative expression,…

The Big Day Chance the Rapper It’s hard to believe in many ways that The Big Day is the Chicago-born rapper’s debut album; after all, there aren’t many rookies who have already dropped three hugely popular mixtapes and claimed three Grammys. Nonetheless, with the MC having said “I do” to his longtime girlfriend just a few months ago, the project represents a both personal and professional milestone. FIVE FACTS: 1. Chance the Rapper is the professional name of Chancelor Jonathan Bennett. 2. He released his debut mixtape, 10 Day, in 2012. 3. Two further mixtapes followed – 2013’s Acid Rap and 2016’s Coloring Book. 4. Coloring Book made history in 2017, when it became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award . 5. The Big Day features a…

U.S. and Chinese envoys held “constructive” trade talks on Wednesday, the White House said, after President Donald Trump rattled financial markets by accusing Beijing of trying to stall in hopes he will fail to win reelection in 2020. The meeting, aimed at ending a tariff war over trade and technology, ended about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Neither delegation spoke to reporters before U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin left for the airport. But White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement hours later that “the meetings were constructive,” and that talks are expected to resume in Washington in September, though exact dates were not announced. According to the statement, the Chinese confirmed their commitment to President Donald Trump to buy more U.S. agricultural exports,…

Huawei’s sales rose by double digits in the first half of this year despite being blacklisted by Washington and its chairman, saying U.S. pressure has “galvanized our people,” expressed confidence the Chinese tech giant will “enter a new period of growth.” Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest maker of network gear for phone companies and the No. 2 smartphone brand, is scrambling to preserve its business after the Trump administration blocked access to U.S. components and technology in May on security grounds. Sales have suffered “some impact” but Huawei avoided disruption in shipments to customers, Liang Hua said at a news conference at its headquarters in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. He said Huawei is reviewing its product lineup to make sure it can fill orders without U.S. components if necessary. American…

It’s just after 6 a.m. and a Palestinian man’s face is momentarily bathed in crimson light, not by the sun rising over the mountains of Jordan, but by a facial recognition scanner at an Israeli checkpoint near Jerusalem. The Israeli military has installed the face scanners as part a multimillion dollar upgrade of the Qalandia crossing that now allows Palestinians from the West Bank with work permits to zip through with relative ease. But while the high-tech upgrades may have eased entry for Palestinians going to Israel for work, critics say they are a sign of the ossification of Israel’s 52-year occupation of the West Bank and slam the military’s use of facial recognition technology as problematic. Qalandia is one of the main crossings for the thousands of Palestinians who…

Uber is laying off 400 employees in marketing, about a quarter of the marketing team’s global workforce of 1,200 people. The move, announced Monday, follows a leadership shake-up in June when CEO Dara Khosrowshahi combined the company’s marketing, communications and policy teams. The ride-hailing company has struggled to prove it can become profitable and its stock has traded mostly below its IPO price since its debut in May. Uber has blamed its losses partly on its costly promotions to attract riders and drivers. Those promotions are crafted by its marketing department. Khosrowshahi installed Jill Hazelbaker to lead up marketing and public affairs in June. On Monday they announced a more centralized structure for marketing and said they want to build a consistent brand narrative across audiences, products and regions.…

With Apple all-but-confirmed to be releasing a trio of new iPhones this September, this week we decided to take a closer look at the latest rumors and leaks, go hands-on with a dummy model, and consider what the future holds for the world’s most iconic smartphone… THREE ALL-NEW iPHONES As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Apple is expected to drop a trio of new iPhones this year, in the same vein as the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, two with an OLED display and one with an LCD variant to lower costs. The high-end models are expected to feature an impressive new triple-lens camera system, whilst the iPhone XR successor will feature a new dual-camera system for the first time. Although major design changes are not expected, analysts…

One of the country’s biggest credit card issuers, Capital One Financial, is the latest big business to be hit by a data breach, disclosing that roughly 100 million people had some personal information stolen by a hacker. The alleged hacker, Paige A. Thompson, obtained Social Security and bank account numbers in some instances, as well other information such as names, birthdates, credit scores and self-reported income, the bank said. It said no credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were compromised. Capital One Financial is just the latest business to suffer a data breach. Only last week Equifax, the credit reporting company, announced a $700 million settlement over its own 2017 data breach that impacted half of the U.S. population. Other companies that have had breaches include the hotel chain…

Money is about more than numbers: emotions are often at play too. Just as you can seek professional help for unhealthy issues in life, financial therapists can help you deal with problems related to money. WHAT IS IT? Financial therapy is the practice of helping people with how they think, feel and behave with money to improve their well-being, according to the Financial Therapy Association. It’s a relatively new niche. The FTA — a professional organization created to set standards for the industry — was established in 2010 and began to offer certifications this year, FTA president Meghaan Lurtz said. The service is generally provided by a financial or mental health professional. The FTA offers varying degrees of certification, which leads to differing degrees of assistance, based on the provider’s…

The Department of Homeland Security issued a security alert this week for small planes, warning that modern flight systems are vulnerable to hacking if someone manages to gain physical access to the aircraft. An alert from the DHS critical infrastructure computer emergency response team recommends that plane owners ensure they restrict unauthorized physical access to their aircraft until the industry develops safeguards to address the issue, which was discovered by a Boston-based cybersecurity company and reported to the federal government. Most airports have security in place to restrict unauthorized access and there is no evidence that anyone has exploited the vulnerability. But a DHS official told The Associated Press that the agency independently confirmed the security flaw with outside partners and a national research laboratory, and decided it was necessary…

France is pushing ahead with a landmark tax on tech companies like Google and Facebook despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliatory tariffs on French wine. That’s rattling French vintners, who sold 1.6 billion euros ($1.78 billion) worth of wine last year to American consumers. But neither Trump nor French President Emmanuel Macron appears ready to back down. After Trump slammed the “foolishness” of the tax in a tweet last Friday and promised reciprocal action, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said France will implement it anyway. He insisted that the measure doesn’t target American companies, and that “fair and effective taxation on digital activities” is of universal concern. He said France’s tax is meant as a temporary measure pending negotiations on an international deal that France wants to…

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager whose social media-savvy brand of eco-activism has inspired tens of thousands of students in Europe to skip classes and protest for faster action against climate change, said this week that she plans to take her message to America the old-fashioned way: by boat. The 16-year-old tweeted that she’ll sail across the Atlantic aboard a high-tech racing yacht, leaving Britain next month to attend U.N. climate summits in New York in September and Santiago, Chile, in December. Thunberg told The Associated Press ahead of her announcement that she spent months trying to figure out how to travel to the U.S. without using planes, which she has long shunned because of their high greenhouse gas emissions. Cruise ships are also notoriously big polluters, while sailors rarely brave…

Japanese technology company Softbank and Southeast Asian ride hailing app Grab said they’re investing $2 billion in Indonesia over the next five years. Grab made the announcement after a meeting between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and executives from Grab and its major investor Softbank. Grab is using money already invested in it by Softbank for the investments in Indonesia, which is Southeast Asia’s largest economy. In its statement Grab said it and Softbank will “create a next-generation transport network for Indonesia based around an electric vehicle ecosystem that will drive cities toward a greener and cleaner transportation grid.” The statement also mentioned development of “e-healthcare” and mapping services. “This investment is evidence that Indonesia has been on the radar of investors, especially in the technology sector,” said Luhut Binsar Panjaitan,…

The country’s biggest TV networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — have sued Locast, a streaming service that transmits their broadcasts for free, in federal court in New York. The companies said in the suit, filed Wednesday, that Locast is violating their copyrights and asked for its service to be shut down. Locast has held that under the law, it is allowed to stream the networks without paying them because it is a non-profit. The networks are suing because Locast threatens their business model, and they say that Locast is acting on behalf of Dish and AT&T, which owns DirecTV. Cable and satellite TV companies pay TV stations; the TV stations then pay the networks, which are owned by Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., Comcast Corp and Fox Corp.…

Apple’s iPhone sales are still sputtering while the company tries to offset the decline by milking more money from digital services such as music. The latest evidence of the iPhone’s waning popularity had been expected. Even so, the confirmation in Tuesday’s fiscal third-quarter earnings report underscored the challenge facing a company that has been riding the smartphone revolution for the past decade. The iPhone’s downturn is the main reason Apple’s profit for the April-June period fell 13% to $10 billion. The good news is Apple has several ways it can still make money from the 900 million iPhones in use today. Besides selling new models to current iPhone owners after the current devices eventually wear out, Apple has positioned itself to make billions of dollars more from music, video and…

Twitter reported surprisingly strong second-quarter user numbers and revenue, as it works to make the platform more user-friendly and eliminate robotic and fake accounts on its platform. On that front, the social media messaging service said instances of suspicious behavior and spam dropped by 18% during the quarter. But Twitter’s push to cut down on fake accounts costs money, and its adjusted profit fell 36% to about $37 million, or 5 cents per share. At the same time, revenue surged 18%, to $841 million, better than the $829 million that Wall Street was looking for, according to a survey by FactSet. In April, Twitter had forecast revenue of $770 million to $830 million for the quarter. Twitter’s daily user base rose 14% to 139 million, an increase of 5 million…

Pokémon Detective Pikachu The mysterious disappearance of ace detective Harry Goodman (Ryan Reynolds) prompts his son Tim (Justice Smith) to attempt to find out what happened. He is assisted in this investigation by Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Pikachu (for whom Reynolds provides both the voice and facial motion capture), with the pair soon beginning to untangle a plot that could threaten the entire Pokémon universe. FIVE FACTS: 1. The film is based on the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995. 2. It is also a loose adaptation of the 2016 video game Detective Pikachu. 3. Other members of the cast include Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe, Suki Waterhouse and Rita Ora. 4. As well as playing Dr. Ann Laurent, Ora joined forces with Kygo to release a…

President Donald Trump has vowed to slap tariffs on Apple’s Mac Pros if the company shifts production of the computer from Texas to China. The pledge made in a tweet rebuffs Apple’s attempt to shield its products from taxes being imposed on goods made in China as part of Trump administration’s trade war with the world’s most populous country. Apple recently sent a letter to the Trump administration warning that the U.S. economy and its ability to compete will hurt if its products are hit with the tariffs. The Cupertino, California, company has been assembling its Mac Pros in Austin, Texas since 2013, but a report surfaced last month that Apple plans to shift production to a factory near Shanghai. Apple is reportedly moving Mac Pro production because it is…

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An HBO miniseries featuring Soviet-era nuclear nightmares has sparked global interest in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and boosted tourism in Lithuania. The Baltic country, which served as the filming location for “Chernobyl,” has become a destination of so-called atomic tourism since the program aired earlier this year. At Ignalina nuclear power plant, Mikhail Nefedyev was staring grimly at the row of blinking green lights on a control panel when another group of curious visitors poured into his realm. The 64 year-old engineer explained to them what exactly happened when a similar reactor exploded in Chernobyl, Ukraine, 33 years ago. The Ignalina plant is of the same prototype as the one in Chernobyl. It has similar blueprints and the same water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts of power.…