Innehållsförteckning för #476 från AppleMagazine

Apple is stepping up privacy for app users, forcing developers to be more transparent about data collection and warning they could be removed if they don’t comply with a new anti-tracking measure, a company executive and regulators said this week. The U.S. tech giant said it’s set to roll out the anti-tracking feature next year and warned it could kick apps off its widely used App Store if they don’t obey its requirements. Called App Tracking Transparency, it will require apps to clearly ask for users’ permission before tracking them. It was due to be launched this year but was delayed to allow developers more time to make changes. “Its aim is to empower our users to decide when or if they want to allow an app to track them…

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s attempts to ban TikTok, the latest legal defeat for the administration as it tries to wrest the popular app from its Chinese owners. The Trump administration had tried to ban the short-form video app from smartphone app stores in the U.S. and cut it off from vital technical services. TikTok sued, arguing such actions would violate free speech and due process rights. Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said in a ruling that the Commerce Department “likely overstepped” its use of presidential emergency powers “and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives.” Nichols is the second federal judge to fully block the Trump administration’s economic sanctions against the app as the…

Japanese space agency officials were delighted by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and were anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete. Hayabusa2 dropped the capsule from space and it landed as planned in the Australian Outback over the weekend. It arrived in Japan on Tuesday and will be studied for insights into the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the capsule, tightly sealed and carefully stored in a container box, arrived at its research facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo, for analysis. “It’s really like a dream,” said Yuichi Tsuda, the Hayabusa2 project manager. “After 5.2 billion kilometers (3.2 billion miles) of space journey which took six years, (the capsule)…

Ammonite In 1840s England, the acclaimed paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) has fallen on hard times since the days of her famed discoveries. However, she soon forms a strong bond with Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan), the wife of wealthy visitor Roderick (James McArdle). FIVE FACTS: 1. Although the film is inspired by the story of the real-life friendship between British paleontologist Mary Anning and geologist Charlotte Murchison, their romance depicted in the film is fictionalized. 2. Today, Anning’s actual romantic inclinations are unknown to historians . 3. As Ronan’s favorite movie growing up was Titanic, she was delighted to play Winslet’s lover in a film. 4. Ammonite was filmed in the southern England coastal town of Lyme Regis, where the real-life Mary Anning worked as a fossil collector in the…

When it’s at its best, “I’m Your Woman” feels like you’ve slipped through a trap door, revealing a hidden pathway in an old genre apparatus. Everything looks familiar — this is a ’70s-set crime drama with all the usual trappings of shootouts, safe houses and polyester — but you’re seeing it from a different perspective. The camera doesn’t stick with the usual characters. It has other interests. “I’m Your Woman,” which debuts Friday in theaters and Dec. 11 on Amazon Prime Video, is directed by Julia Hart, who also wrote the script with her husband, the producer (and Oscar flub hero ) Jordan Horowitz. Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) stars as Jean, the kind of woman typically relegated to bit character in more masculine dramas. She’s sitting in their…

For NBA coaches, masks are required this season. Jackets are not. Rules for coaching attire will be relaxed by the league this year, though not as much as was the case during play at the bubble at Walt Disney World this past summer. Suit jackets or sport coats will not be required — as was the case in the bubble, when most coaches wore polo shirts and many said they preferred that option. The new league mandate, as detailed in a memo sent to coaches Sunday and obtained by The Associated Press, requires “business attire ... dress shirts, pants, socks, and shoes.”There’s no mention of ties, which some coaches have often gone without in recent years, but an exception is made for polo shirts as long as they are NBAlicensed…

Scientists are seeing promising early results from the first studies testing gene editing for painful, inherited blood disorders that plague millions worldwide, especially Black people. Doctors hope the one-time treatment, which involves permanently altering DNA in blood cells with a tool called CRISPR, may treat and possibly cure sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. Partial results were presented Saturday at an American Society of Hematology conference and some were published by the New England Journal of Medicine. Doctors described 10 patients who are at least several months removed from their treatment. All no longer need regular blood transfusions and are free from pain crises that plagued their lives before. Victoria Gray, the first patient in the sickle cell study, had long suffered severe pain bouts that often sent her to…

Companies including the Chinese arm of TripAdvisor Inc. have been ordered by regulators to overhaul their mobile phone apps in what the Chinese government said is a crackdown on pornography and other improper content. The National Cyberspace Administration ordered the removal of 105 apps including TripAdvisor from app stores this week, although it gave no details of what each app was accused of doing wrong. It cited what it said were public complaints about obscene, pornographic and violent information or fraud, gambling and prostitution. The ruling Communist Party tightly controls what the Chinese public sees online and has launched repeated crackdowns on websites and apps. TripAdvisor China, a joint venture between TripAdvisor and its Chinese partner Trip.com, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Following the removal of…

Prominent artificial intelligence scholar Timnit Gebru helped improve Google’s public image as a company that elevates Black computer scientists and questions harmful uses of AI technology. But internally, Gebru, a leader in the field of AI ethics, was not shy about voicing doubts about those commitments — until she was pushed out of the company this week in a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers of an emerging branch of AI. Gebru announced on Twitter she was fired. Google told employees she resigned. More than 1,200 Google employees have signed on to an open letter calling the incident “unprecedented research censorship” and faulting the company for racism and defensiveness. The furor over Gebru’s abrupt departure is the latest incident raising questions about whether Google has strayed so…

Apple may not have hosted an all-bells, all-whistles event to show off its new headphones, but it didn’t need to: the company’s letting the sound speak for itself. After a year of speculation, Apple lifted the lid on AirPods Max online, with its $549 over-ear headphones offering breathtaking high-fidelity audio combined with the magic of AirPods. Designed for professional musicians and audiophiles, Apple’s ready to claim the headphone crown. THE ULTIMATE PERSONAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE Since the introduction of AirPods back in December 2016, Apple’s wearable technology division has exploded in popularity, and recent analysis suggests that the Cupertino company managed to ship more than $9 billion worth of AirPods and AirPods Pro in 2019. That’s without mentioning the continued brand power of its Beats headphones range, which cost the company…

More than 8.1 million people in the U.S. have turned their iPhones and Android devices into pandemic contact-tracing tools, but it hasn’t been of much use when their neighbors, classmates and coworkers aren’t on the same system. Apple and Google co-created “exposure notification” technology to alert phone users if they spent time near someone who tests positive for the coronavirus, so they know to get tested, too. It’s built with tight privacy restrictions to maintain users’ anonymity, but the tech companies have left it to each state’s public health authority to decide whether to use it. So far, 16 U.S. states, plus Guam and Washington, D.C., and more than 30 countries have made the exposure notification system available to their residents. HOW DOES IT WORK? The technology relies on Bluetooth…

Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special (Apple TV+ Original Soundtrack) Mariah Carey This is the soundtrack accompanying Mariah Carey’s Apple TV+ Christmas special of the same name. Fans of the diva can enjoy her fresh renditions of festive favorites from other artists and her own back catalog – including, of course, the annual staple “All I Want for Christmas is You”. FIVE FACTS: 1. The guest stars in the holiday special include Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, who also all appear on the soundtrack. 2. Carey first teased the special on social media, where she shared a photo of three chairs on which the initials of her, Grande and Hudson were printed . 3. The soundtrack arrived first on Apple Music and the iTunes Store on December…

Prominent U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said that foreign government hackers with “world-class capabilities” broke into its network and stole offensive tools it uses to probe the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations. The hackers “primarily sought information related to certain government customers,” FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said in a statement, without naming them. He said there was no indication they got customer information from the company’s consulting or breach-response businesses or threat-intelligence data it collects. FireEye is a major cybersecurity player — it responded to the Sony and Equifax data breaches and helped Saudi Arabia thwart an oil industry cyberattack — and has played a key role in identifying Russia as the protagonist in numerous aggressions in the burgeoning…

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Australia’s government will reveal legislation in Parliament on Wednesday that would make Facebook and Google pay for journalism. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday that the legislation to create the News Media Bargaining Code will be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee following its introduction and before lawmakers vote on it next year. “This is a huge reform,” Frydenberg told reporters. “This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia.” “This is comprehensive legislation that has gone further than any comparable jurisdiction in the world,” he added. The legislation differs from draft proposals that were released in July after consultations with the social media platforms as well as Australian media organizations. The government had initially planned to exclude state-owned media — Australian Broadcasting Corp. and the…

Uber is selling off its autonomous vehicles development arm to Aurora as the ride-hailing company slims down after its revenues were pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic. Aurora will acquire the employees and technology behind Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group in an equity transaction, the companies said. Uber will invest $400 million into Aurora, and Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Aurora’s board of directors, the companies said. After the transaction, Aurora will be worth $10 billion and Uber will hold 26% stake in the company, said Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora, in an interview. “Our first product will be in trucking and freight, but we look forward to taking this great team that we have and accelerating that while continuing working on light vehicles and ride-haling, and we’ll ultimately see our…

Twilio has emerged as a technological backbone for thousands of companies during the pandemic. Its users rely on its digital tools to connect with customers through mobile apps, call centers and messaging services as the shift to online commerce and curbside pickup accelerates. The San Francisco company ended September with 208,000 customers, a 21% increase from the same time last year, while its revenue surged 52%. Despite its rapid growth, Twilio still hasn’t proven it can be profitable. The 12-year-old company has amassed nearly $1 billion in losses since it was co-founded by its CEO, Jeff Lawson, a software programmer who got the idea for Twilio while helping Amazon build its now-massive web services division. Investors clearly believe Twilio has established itself as a vital service. The company’s stock price…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a voluntary smartphone tool to alert people of possible coronavirus exposure as cases soar higher, new restrictions are imposed and many people still say they won’t heed the pleas to stay home. The tool — which has been used on a pilot basis on some state university campuses — doesn’t track people’s identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of each other for at least 15 minutes, officials said. California’s 40 million residents can opt in to the system starting this week. When someone who has activated the technology tests positive for the virus, that person will receive a verification code from state health officials that can be used to send an anonymous…

’Tis the season of great Aubrey Plaza performances, apparently. The “Parks and Recreation” and “Legion” alum has been long overdue for a breakout film role, something fitting of her wide-ranging talent and more imaginative than just relying on her quirky deadpan and eye rolls. She’s been excellent before as a motivated teen in “The To Do List” and an empathetic social media stalker in “Ingrid Goes West” but the bigger studio comedies have largely failed her. Something finally clicked into place, though, and she has proven that she is on another level. And no, I’m not just talking about her effortlessly cool “Happiest Season” character, a side-player who became a social media favorite simply by existing. The movie is “ Black Bear,” a meta thriller about moviemaking, creativity and ego…

John Urschel has found that a master’s degree in mathematics, his stature as an accomplished author and his pending doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology isn’t necessarily enough to sell young students on the benefit of crunching numbers. What really makes him interesting to most kids is that he’s a former NFL player who opted to immerse himself in math. “In the broader context, it helps because it makes me more believable. It shows I have an interest in doing other things,” Urschel said. “Often, a mathematician is too abstract for young people.” Urschel recently drew 700 participants worldwide for an event staged by the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) called Bending the Arc. Urschel is a member of the board of trustees at MoMath and serves as the…

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t stopped Americans from keeping up with their credit card payments, thanks in large part to government relief programs passed by Congress earlier this year. For some, however, the ability to keep buying things with plastic and then pay the bill likely depends on whether current negotiations in Washington produce another round of economic aid. Many existing aid measures are set to soon expire. The pandemic plunged the U.S. economy into a deep recession, costing millions of Americans their jobs and businesses. While the economy has recovered somewhat, the latest report on the job market shows the pace of hiring has slowed in the face of a wave of new COVID-19 cases. While the banking industry has not shared industry wide statistics, the major credit card issuers…

A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. The study commissioned by the State Department and released is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among U.S. personnel in Havana. The study found that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible” explanation for symptoms that included intense head pressure, dizziness and cognitive difficulties. It found this explanation was more likely than other previously considered causes such as tropical disease or psychological issues. The study did not name a source for the energy and did not say it came as the result of an attack,…